Blood Bound
by half-demon girl
Summary: The Demon has AWAKEN! What will happen to Konohagakure if an ancient demon, sealed away by White Fang, is released by someone who supposedly died 5 years ago? Part 1 of 2 continues in Blood Bound II
1. Who Is It?

Blood Bound

It was the dark of night.

The moon was just above the mountaintops. The moon was big and white, spotted with patches of grey from the impacts of the mediators, shaping the moon's face.

The stars were out and bright, like fireflies glued to a piece of black blue paper and hung up in the sky.

The moon was close, meaning a high tide for the villages close to the sea.

A dark figure raced through the woods, panting and stumbling sometimes as it ran on its two legs. As it neared a small clearing by a pond, the figure became illuminated by the moon light, but only slightly. It was a young girl. Her bare arms and legs scratched from the tree branches, reaching out to grab her, her black shirt tattered and ripped at the sleeves, her legs and shorts stained with dirt and grass.

The cold night air was piercing her lungs as her breath came in short gasps for air. She ran on, stumbling over the uneven ground. She couldn't see anything but the very out line of objects illuminated by the moon light.

A hideous growl emanated from behind her in the woods. It sounded as if the earth itself was crumbling apart at her feet, trying to swallow her up into the pits of hell.

She dared not to look back to see if her pursuer followed her. She probably wouldn't see it any ways. She couldn't even see the path in front of her. She was about half way around the lake, when her right foot caught in a tree root. Snagging her foot out from under her and making her lose her balance. She gasped and yelped out in surprise as she found herself falling toward the ground. She extended her arms out in front of her to catch herself, but it was too late.

The ground already struck her, hard, causing her to lose her breath.

She shuddered, clutching the ground, trying to regain her breath, trying to force herself up and to keep on running. But she couldn't, her arms were weak, her legs felt like rubber, and her throat stung with every breath. She lifted her head, looking up, with half-closed eyes thinking about how much further she had to go before she was out of the reach of the demon pursuing her.

A deep howl was heard. It made the wind blow, making the trees bow before the beautiful song.

The girl's head snapped up. She looked to her right, pin pointing the beautiful tone. Something caught her ear; she thought it would be the last thing she'd ever hear in her life, which seemed to be coming to an end so suddenly.

A vicious snarl of the demon emanated from a very close range. The demon was a good couple of meters away and closing at a fast pace.

The girl tried to get up, struggling with her weak arms. She got to her knees, hands still on the ground, when she heard the vicious snarl again, this time it was right behind her. She froze, eyes wide, body shivering with fear.

This is it, the chase has come to an end, the demon has finally caught his prey.

The girl slowly turned her head to the left, to peer over her shoulder, cold sweat dripping down her face, to take a good look at her pursuer before he devoured her. She couldn't see anything but the silhouette of the demon.

She then saw its big, bright, stunning yellow eyes, full of hate and rage. She gasped, rolling over on her back side, sitting there, staring at the mesmerizing yellow eyes of the demon. She was paralyzed. She couldn't move. She wondered if this is what it must be like to die at the hands of a demon, to feel nothing as they paralyze you with their eyes and to finish you off, quick and painless.

The demon stood on four legs, muscular under its thick fur. It stood about one meter high. Its head was low, to what it looked like. Its muscles tensed and relaxed, ready to pounce at any given moment. Its yellow eyes glaring at the girl. The demon's tail was raised high with excitement from the chase.

The girl sat there frozen. She couldn't move.

The demon took a step forward with its massive paw, not even making a sound as it stealthily walked toward its target.

The girl snapped from her trance, and realized that the demon was getting closer to her. She scooted back as fast as she could, glancing back occasionally to see where she was going, but making sure the demon kept its distance.

The demon had other plans. It took bigger strides, gaining more ground on the girl.

The girl gained enough energy for one last run, and in one quick flash, she turned, stood up and sprinted off in the opposite direction of the demon.

The demon followed in pursuit.

The girl only got a couple meters before she fell.

The demon lunged at the girl, fore paws forward and claws extended, snarling in victory.

The girl turned around, with her backside on the ground. Seeing the demon lunge at her she put her arm up in defense, fear consumed her as she took in the last sights of her would be life, and she did the only thing she thought would help . . .

She screamed -

Kakashi Hatake woke up with a start, bolting up right into a sitting position. His breathing coming in shot gasps, cold sweat rolling down his face and back. His eyes wide in fear, grey spiky hair sticking to his forehead, hand clutching the green sheet that covered his shaking body. His dark-blue Anbu shirt soaked with sweat, not helping the fact that the cool night air was still hanging around even though the sun was just coming up to another humid day.

His breathing started to even out, as he calmed down. He sighed as he slumped over and placed his head in his hands. He stayed there for five minutes before running both hands through his messy hair. He groaned as he threw his head back to try to gather his thoughts.

This had been the third time this month that he's had the same dream. More like a replaying nightmare.

He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to wipe the sleep away from his groggy body.

The cool night air began to disappear into the heat-drenched day that was to come.

Kakashi slumped over again, dropping his hands into his lap. He didn't want to get up, but he had to. He had to go train the genin for the chunin exams. Kakashi groaned as he threw the covers off his legs and turned to sit on the edge of the bed, feet hanging off the side. He gripped the edge of his bed, trying to rid himself of sleep.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Kakashi's grogginess had left him in an instant, waking him up for the day's duties. "Yes? Who is it?" He yelled to the door.

No one answered his call.

The door slowly creaked open, but no one was there, just an empty hallway.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow.

Suddenly, there was a scream. It came from down the hallway, some ways.

"AH!" It was Naruto's voice.

Kakashi's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. 'What the heck was going on?' He questioned. His question was soon answered.

"AH!" Naruto came running into the room screaming. "Kakashi sensei! Make her stop!" The spiky, yellow haired kid ran around the room, rambling on about Sakura.

Just then, a girl with pink hair and green eyes came running over to the doorway, blocking Naruto's exit. The girl balled her fist and held it up into the air. "Oo! Naruto!" She threatened. "Give it back right now!" Sakura's green eyes turned deadly as she glared at the genin dressed in orange, running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off. With that, she ran after him, hands extended like claws, reaching out to catch her target.

They ran around the room for minutes, shouting at each other, bickering and yelling.

Kakashi just sat there with an animated sweat drop slowly going down his face. "Okay then." He muttered to himself.

Sakura had finally caught Naruto. "Give it back!" She sternly demanded. She put him into a headlock. When he didn't give back her item of possession, she proceeded to pummel his head until he gave up and returned her item.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Naruto sighed and held up a photo album in the air. "Fine, here."

Sakura let Naruto's head go, as she snatched the book out of his hand.

"Ah!" Naruto shouted as the ground came up to meet him. "Oof!" He fell to the ground with a loud thud, face first into the ground, butt up in air.

Sakura didn't even care if Naruto got hurt. "Now to see if you ruined my book." Sakura scuffed. She walked over to Kakashi's unmade bed and sat down on the side.

Kakashi had gotten up, changed, and put on his jonin shirt and vest while the two were fighting. He bent down, pulled on his shoes and properly placed the white wraps around his calves. Last, he placed his black hitai-ate back in its proper place, covering his left scarred eye. After tightening the medal headband into place, he shook his head, causing his hair to stand up in its proper position. He pulled on his black gloves with metal backing; it helped to protect his hands if a sharp object were to hit the back of his hands.

Naruto gripped about his throbbing head. He ruffled his blonde messy hair.

Sakura flipped through her brown book full of photos and memories. Some were of her and her family, but of the team as well. She was about to flip a page when something caught her eye. "Hm?" Sakura questioned. "What's this?"

"What is Konohamaru making a funny face or something?" Naruto asked after rubbing his head, he got Sakura's shoe in his face.

Sakura glared at Naruto, she had enough of him. "No . . ." She stated bluntly. "It looks like a person."

Kakashi was about to walk out of the room and tell them to lock the door on the way out, but this caught his ear. Kakashi turned around and stepped over the unconscious, yet twitching Naruto. "Let's see." He stated. He held out his hand, silently telling Sakura to hand over the book.

Sakura stood up and handed her prized book over to Kakashi.

Kakashi turned the book over, because Sakura handed it to him upside down. He stared at the book's pages, scanning the photos on the page to see if he could spot anything out of place.

Sakura walked over to his left a bit and then craned her head to look at the book up right. "See," she stated. "Right there," She pointed to a picture that was of the group on the training field outside the village by the lake.

Kakashi took a good look at the picture.

It was true! There was somebody in the picture! The figure was on a branch of a tree, blending in with the shadows of the leaves, barely noticeable, unless you studied it hard, you could see an outline of a person.

"Hmm . . ." He sighed as he studied the picture. 'Could it be?' He wondered. 'Nah, it couldn't.' He denied. He handed the book back over to Sakura. "It could just be a Jonin checking up on our training." He replied, as he turned and headed toward the door.

Naruto became conscious again and sat up, rubbing his sore head.

"Oh!" Kakashi stated, as he was half way out the door. "And don't forget to lock the door." He walked out of the door and down the hall, hands in his pockets, and turning right at the corner.

A boy, with black spiky hair, a konoha about his forehead, blue shirt and white pants, walked toward Kakashi on the opposite side of the hallway, hands in his pockets like Kakashi.

"Well, good morning, Sasuke." Kakashi said as they drew nearer.

The boy just grunted a 'hello'. He walked right past Kakashi, heading straight for the other two genin, which had made their way into Kakashi's room.

Once Sasuke turned the corner, a woman in a full body chain mail, brownish pants, a tan over coat, short, purple hair pulled back into a ponytail, and a konoha tied about her forehead came bolting around the opposite corner, in front of Kakashi and skidded to a halt, legs spread a little further then shoulder width.

Once she spotted Kakashi, she bolted up toward him, slightly out of breath. "Kakashi . . ." She slightly panting.

"Anko?" Kakashi asked the tired woman.

"Lord Hokage needs you, at once." Anko stated. She then turned and took off in a new direction.

Kakashi sighed. He began to walk off and reroute to the Lord Hokage's room.

Once he got there, he stood outside a wooden door. He knocked three times, and then opened the door, poking his head in.

"Lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked. "You summoned me?" He walked in shutting the door.

"Ah, Kakashi," The elderly man, at a desk with several scrolls and papers about it, stated. "Come in, come in!" The elderly man had a square like hat placed about his head, with a point at the top, the colors were red and white with a red symbol on the front point saying Konohagakure.

The hat had white cloth dropping from the sides and back, the elderly man wearing the hat and grey hair and a wrinkled face, with several liver spots here and there.

His hands were busy writing some things on pieces of paper that were placed around his desk, and his mouth moved around as which the brown pipe moved as well, and his white sleeves barely moving.

"Lord Hokage." Kakashi stated as he bowed before the elderly man.

After Kakashi stood up, there was about several, minutes of silence before the Hokage spoke.

"Now, I have a special assignment for you." The elderly Hokage had wrote something down and then placed the pen down and pushed it and the paper aside. He looked up at Kakashi and placed his hands by his mouth.

Kakashi awaited his assignment, calmly and collected. He wasn't expecting much, probably a scouting mission. But, what he wasn't prepared for was the mission that was to await him.

"Some bodies have been found." The elderly man stated. "They haven't told me any details, but they said to send someone with a good knowledge of tracking and exceptionally sharp eyes." He lowered his chin to look at Kakashi through lowered eyes, meaning he was serious about wanting Kakashi as that 'someone'.

"Yes Lord Hokage." Kakashi stated, bowing his head. "I understand."

Kakashi turned on his heels and walked straight to the door.

As he opened his the Hokage called out after him, "They're out by the woods, past the training grounds."

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder, gave a slight nod of the head and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Kakashi walked out of the gates and toward the grass covered, training ground.

By a trail, mostly walked by genin and Chunin in training, being blocked by medical corps ninja.

There were two of them. One had a clipboard and the other looked very pale. They were talking to each other. They stopped and looked at Kakashi as soon as he drew nearer.

"Kakashi sensei. . ." The medical corps ninja with the clipboard stated. "You're here."

Kakashi stopped and nodded acknowledging them.

"Okay . . ." The corps ninja stated looking at his notes he had taken. "Why don't you escort him to the place?" He stated to the pale medical corps ninja.

The pale ninja jumped back slightly. "What!" He stated loudly. "Are you kidding! I'm not going back there!"

The medical ninja with the clipboard seemed to glare at the pale ninja. He seemed to be the head ninja.

The pale ninja slumped over and sighed, "Fine." He began to walk the path, which he dreaded so much.

Kakashi followed him.

The forest seemed to consume all the light, though you could see, yet it was still dark. The forest looked like a tunnel with the light at the end, only it was behind them not in front.

About one third of the way in, something had caught Kakashi's eye, he didn't let onto it until about two thirds of the way in.

"You know," Kakashi's voice broke the still silence.

The medical ninja, before him, jumped slightly. He stopped.

"You can go back you know." Kakashi stated, nodding back to the light behind them.

The ninja jumped at this moment. "Arigatou!" He bowed and took off in the direction of the light.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder to make sure he was far enough away. Once the medical ninja disappeared into the light, Kakashi kneeled down toward the ground. He placed his right knee on the ground and right hand to balance himself.

He studied the ground.

The ground was covered with grass and brush.

Kakashi moved some foliage out of the way to examine the ground more carefully.

Just as he thought, as he moved the brush away, a mar in the soil unveiled itself, a beautifully placed paw print of an animal with four toes, a big paw pad at the base of the toes, and claws.

Kakashi ran his fingers over the print.

The print was larger than his hand.

"That's one big wolf." He muttered to himself. He scanned the rest of the ground, rotating his head from left to right.

Other prints began to pop up. It must have been a pack.

Kakashi stood up and followed the tracks.

They led straight to a grove of trees, which were grown closely together.

"Talk about not falling far from the tree." He mumbled.

Suddenly, a stench hit his nose. He flinched. The stench was nauseating, how come he didn't notice this before? There was definitely a kill nearby.

Kakashi walked around the closely-knit trees. He found a small opening, which he could just barely squeeze through. He was more focused on getting through the crack rather than see what was on the other side of it.

He got stuck, but he squirmed a bit, trying to loosen the trees' grip.

As he finally pried his body from the trees and stumbled into the center of the ring, he froze, staring at the ground.

'Blood?' Kakashi questioned.

He flinched again. The stench was really strong this time, this must be the kill.

He dared himself to look up. Which he did, and what he saw almost made him loose his stomach.

All around him, was a battle field, no... A war zone, no... This was much worse, whatever did this, it's not a forest animal, and it's not human.

Five bodies lay about.

One hanging from a tree by his neck, kunai and shuriken stuck in him and a slash from his left shoulder, running deep, all the way to his right hip. His limp, bloody body hung there, slowly swaying, the rope creaking with its slow movements and blood trickling down his form to a puddle, which had become a good foot across.

Three of his comrades were severed among the ground. Their body parts everywhere. A hand here, a foot there, and skin, clothe and bone among the ground, blood coating them.

One had his head severed. His head wasn't that far from his body only several centimeters from the corpses cut neck. The face still had a shocked look on it, one of fear and terror. His eyes wide open and his mouth slightly ajar, trying to scream, but was cut short. So now he only screams in silence.

'Whatever he saw, it must have killed him quickly.' Kakashi thought, looking at the dead man's expression. Kakashi looked around at the others.

The other two were in no better shape. You could barely tell who they were.

They were decapitated, severed, and cut to pieces. Their body parts lay all over the floor. They looked like they went through a blender.

And what really made Kakashi want to vomit, was their entrails spilling out of their body.

One of the disemboweled bodies had its heart ripped out of its chest. You could tell because there was a massive hole where the heart was supposed to be, someone could have easily stuck their hand in there and ripped it out. The heart lay not that far away, with a big chunk out of it.

The other one probably died from lacerations and having his limbs being cut off, including his head, which seemed to have been cut off, yet it couldn't be seen.

Kakashi guessed it used to be where a puddle of blood was about a meter away.

Remnants of a skull were there, only the back half and some hair, but the rest was gone. Probably crushed.

The one hanging from the tree died from the deep cut to his torso.

The last one was pinned to the tree, a spray of kunai and shuriken stuck in him, dripping blood at the points.

As Kakashi moved away from the bodies, he surveyed the scene, watching where he stepped, making sure not to step in the blood, body parts, or guts sprayed around the ground.

Blood coated the trees, as if something with blood was flung around in the center of the tree clump.

The tree bark was cut deeply. Dirt and grass was torn up, showing signs of a struggle on the ground. There was something very odd about some of the cuts and puncture wounds on some of the trees and victims' bodies. Some of the cuts were in rows of four. And the some of the puncture wounds looked like bite marks from something with very sharp teeth and fangs.

Kakashi knelt down by one of the tore ligaments. He picked it up and turned it back and forth, examining the bite mark.

'Could it be?' Kakashi asked himself. Kakashi replaced the arm back down on the ground where he had found it. He looked around at the rest of the remains. He stood up and placed his hands in his pockets.

Rustling was heard overhead. Then a figure jumped down beside him, to his right. A flutter of clothe and jingle of metal could be heard as the figure landed on the ground.

"Nobody deserves this..." It was the woman from before, Anko. "Even if they were spies." She stood up and scanned the damage.

Kakashi glanced at her through his right eye.

Just then, there was a faint groan.

The two Jonin snapped their heads to the man pinned to the tree.

"He's still alive!" Anko shouted to Kakashi as she ran over and checked the guy's pulse. "Quick! Get him down!" She ordered Kakashi.

"What?" Kakashi asked stunned. "Why do I have to do it?" He complained.

Anko glared at him.

"You're in front of him, you take him down!" Kakashi grunted glaring back at her.

An intense battle of wills were clashing.

Anko glared harder, as did Kakashi.

"Fine," Kakashi said in a playful tone, putting up his hands and smiling, or at least it's what it looked like. "I'll do it."

Anko's face dropped and her shoulders slumped. "Wha?" She was dumbfounded.

Kakashi walked over and took out the shuriken and kunai that attached him to the tree.

Once free, the guy slumped forward off the tree, falling on Kakashi.

The person groaned in pain.

Kakashi caught him and laid him down on the forest floor.

Anko turned and yelled for a medic.

The guy coughed, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. He was bleeding internally.

"Damn." Anko muttered. "Try getting something out of him." She nudged Kakashi as she knelt down beside him.

Kakashi sighed. He looked back at the guy.

The guy's headband had the lightning village symbol.

The person grunted and opened his eyes half way.

"You okay?" Anko asked, butting in front of Kakashi.

The guy groaned in response. He closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side a bit.

"Can you tell us anything?" Anko asked.

The guy opened his eyes, straightened his head and looked straight at Anko.

"Who, or what, did this to you?" Anko asked. Poking her nose in deeper then she needed to, literally.

The person groaned and shifted a little on the ground. You could hear popping and tearing. "They... they came out of now where..." He was really weak. His voice was very airy and hoarse.

"Who are 'they'?" Anko asked pushing Kakashi away again.

He looked at Anko, "The wolves..." He stated meekly. He then reverted his sight to the treetops.

His eyes became glazed over and distant, lost in thought.

"I have never seen them so vicious." He stated.

This got Kakashi tense. "A pack of wolves couldn't have done this." He stated, as a matter of fact. He stood up and began to turn away.

"But..." The guy interrupted. "There was one..."

This got Kakashi's attention.

"Its eyes... They were as red as freshly spilt blood." The guy closed his eyes, trying to remember the horrible wolf.

Anko cocked an eyebrow and looked over to Kakashi.

"It was as if the devil himself was reborn into this world..."

Kakashi looked over his right shoulder at the guy.

"It tore everything apart..." His voice became weaker and weaker as he spoke.

Kakashi scuffed and began to walk in the opposite direction.

"Then there was a girl... no... an angel..." He sighed, opening his eyes and smiling slightly. "She graced us with her presence..."

Kakashi halted and whipped his head and body around, and sprinted slightly back to where the man was laying. He shoved Anko out of the way, causing her to fall on her butt.

She landed painfully and grimaced. She glared at him and rubbed her butt. "You don't have to be so pushy. You could have just asked." She muttered to herself.

"What did this girl... I mean, angel... Look like?" He asked, getting in the guy's face.

"She was a goddess among the wolves." He stated, as if he was in a dream. "They obeyed her, as if she was one of their own."

Kakashi squinted in thought.

"But..." The weak man lifted his arm as best he could, but it was painfully slow, and pointed to his headband. "She had one of these on," He put his arm down, "like you." He nodded towards Anko, who got up and brushed herself off.

She looked up and glanced back and forth, then stared at the man and pointed to herself. Mouthing the word, 'Me?'

The man's body shook with a violent cough.

Anko jumped and yelled, "Where are those medics!"

"They're coming as fast as they can!" Some one's voice yelled.

The guy groaned and closed his eyes.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kakashi muttered and grabbed the man's collar and shook him. "You have to tell me! What did she look like? Did she give you a name? Something? ANYTHING!" Kakashi yelled to him, shaking him violently.

The guy groaned in pain.

"Kakashi!" Anko yelled, trying to pry his grip off the dying man. "Be gentle! Put him down!"

Kakashi did as he was told, not real gently but let him go and made him fall towards the ground. "Tell me, what she told you!" He demanded through clenched teeth, trying to keep his anger in check.

"They called her..." The guy groaned, "The protector of the forest..." and with that the guy sighed, slightly closing his eyes and body going limp. His life had passed on.

Kakashi's eyes went wide slightly... 'It can't be...' Kakashi bowed his head and prayed for the man's safe journey, for him and his fellow ninjas' souls.

"Kakashi!" Anko yelled running back to the scene. "The medic's are here!"

Kakashi just sat there silently.

"Kakashi?" Anko asked, peering over his shoulder.

Kakashi looked over his right shoulder, "It's too late..." He stated, turning back to the man and leaning forward, closing his eye for good. "He's gone..." He sighed.

The medics sighed. They were tired from running all the way, carrying the stretcher. They groaned.

Anko slumped her shoulders, putting a disappointed look on her face.

Kakashi just sat there, looking at the dead man.

Thinking as to what he had just recently said. 'What did it mean? Is she really alive after all these years? Or could it just be something that I want to hear and yet I'm not?' These question, and more, raced through his head.

Throughout the day, he thought, wandering the forest to try to find an answer. He did find one; however, all the questions added up to one simple one, 'Who could it be?' Kakashi asked himself as he looked up in to the star filled sky.

A shooting star passed overhead, beautiful and unique, its tail disappearing into the night sky, trying to chase after the unseen falling star. Alone and lost shall it remain, until its owner comes to retrieve it again, just like Kakashi's mind, wandering the stars to find the answer.

'Is she alive?'


	2. Why Me?

A month later....

Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, Gai and Anko were standing outside the same spot where Kakashi had been just a month ago, the edge of the forest.

Medical Corps ninjas carried out stretcher after stretcher with sheets covering the unfortunate bodies that were dismembered.

After watching the third stretcher go by, Gai broke the silence. "This has been the fifth attack this month!" Placing his hands on his hips.

"This is getting out of hand." Kurenai stated, crossing her arms, watching the forth stretcher go by.

"Way out of hand." Asuma muttered, hands in his pockets and cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"We must do something." Kurenai stated as she broke her gaze from the parade of the dead to her fellow comrades standing beside her.

Anko crossed her arms and had a pout like look on her face. She was thinking. "Kakashi..." She questioned.

Kakashi glanced in her direction.

"You know these woods..." Anko looked to her left, right at Kakashi. "Am I right?"

Kakashi nodded shallowly.

"You know the woods better than anyone-" Anko stopped her sentence, correcting herself. "Well... um... I mean... well... since... her..." Anko didn't know how to say it. She rubbed the back of her neck, somewhat embarrassed.

Kakashi sighed, dropping his head. "Yeah, I know." He looked at the ground, finding it interesting.

The others looked at him, slightly confused.

Just then, the fifth stretcher came out. One of the medical ninja was somewhat clumsy and tilted the stretcher too much to his right.

Just then, a disembodied head came rolling out from under the white sheet and at Anko's and Kurenai's feet.

Both girls jumped back, shuddering and yelping, and hid behind Asuma. They peeked out from behind each of his shoulders.

The face had a surprised and horrid look on its face; blood streaming from the corner of its mouth.

"Oop, sorry." The medical ninja stated and picked the head and threw it under the cloth again.

When he did that, the arm fell out and dangled there.

The medical ninjas just kept walking.

The girls shuddered groaning in disgust.

"I'll keep an eye on things." Kakashi stated watching the end of the train walk further and further away. "So 'that' doesn't happen again." He was referring to the rolling head and arm.

That Night

"Aw, man!" Naruto whined. He stretched his arms and placed them behind his head. "Why do we have to be out here?! Why not the others?!"

"Naruto!" Sakura tried to explain to him, the millionth time.

Looking from the fire in the middle of the campsite, to Naruto sitting to her left. "Kakashi sensei already explained to you why we're out here in the first place."

Naruto glanced at her, giving her a questioning look. "He did?"

"You're so oblivious..." Sasuke stated, blowing air.

He sat with his right knee toward the sky and his right arm laying loosely on top of it, his left leg lay on the ground with his left hand supporting him.

"Kakashi sensei knows these woods like the back of his hand." Sakura stated, trying to get through to Naruto.

"Well..." Naruto stated sarcastically. He dropped his hands down to his sides and put them on the ground to help support his rage. "If Kakashi sensei knew these woods like the back of his hand, then he would have been here an hour ago!!" Naruto complained, spit flying out of his mouth.

"Boo!" Kakashi poked his head out from behind a nearby bush, behind the genin.

"AH!!" Naruto and Sakura screamed. They jumped up, scared stiff.

Sasuke, on the other hand, jumped up into a fighting stance with a kunai drawn and ready. He glared at Kakashi as he stood up from the bush and broke out into a fit of laughter.

Naruto had this expression on his face of shear horror and surprise.

He fainted, falling on to his back, his feet straight up in the air. He quickly scrambled to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi. "DON'T DO THAT!! AND WHERE WERE YOU!?!" Naruto yelled at him with fire burning in his eyes.

"Sorry..." Kakashi stated calmly after composing himself from his laughter. He scratched the back of his head, "Got lost." He stated simply.

They all fell over, feet up in the air.

"How could you get lost?" Sakura asked, sitting up.

"I haven't been through here in a while." Kakashi responded. "Everything's changed." He sighed, looking around at the trees. He then looked up to the star lit sky.

Suddenly, something growled.

Naruto looked down at his stomach, so did everyone around him.

They all had sweat drops on their heads.

"Heh, heh." Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm hungry." He stated simply.

Kakashi shook his head, "There's food in the packs." Kakashi pointed his thumb to the bags slightly behind him.

"YEAH!" Naruto shouted and ran over to the packs and dove in, literally.

Kakashi placed his hands back in his pockets. He walked away to the other side of the camp, where he found a suitable spot and sat down at the base of a tree.

Naruto was throwing things here and there.

Kakashi pulled out his book and began to read it.

Days went by... Nothing happened. Maybe it was just a flook.

The next week they were out there... Nothing...

Until, that last night...

Everyone was up.

Kakashi was lying on his right side, reading his book.

Naruto was sitting cross-legged, arms draped loosely on his lap, staring at the dancing flames.

Sakura was lounging back, staring at the stars and black sky of the night.

Sasuke was sitting cross-legged, with his elbow on his knees, hands folded in front of his mouth and his eyes shut. He wasn't sleeping though, just resting his eyes.

Suddenly, there was a bush; it seemed to come alive! It was rustling wildly.

Everyone looked at it.

To the genins' left and Kakashi's right.

The rustling stopped.

A squirrel came scampering out of it. It was brown and bushy. It's big black eyes captivating. It stared at them, then scurried off into a different direction.

The eyes of the genin and jonin followed it until it disappeared.

"Hmmm..." Kakashi was thinking. "Odd."

Then, a deer leapt out from the same bush, startling everyone in camp. The deer startled at the fire and bounded around it a couple times then leapt over a bush and ran away.

Naruto was knocked over on his back.

Sakura ran and hid behind a tree.

Sasuke jumped up in to a fighting stance.

Kakashi just sat there. He sat there watching the way the deer had exited. "Hmm..."

Everyone started to calm down a bit.

Breathing evened out, muscles relaxed, racing hearts slowed down to their normal rate.

"Odd..." Kakashi muttered after every one was relaxed.

"Something must have startled it." Sakura stated, her hand over her heart, calming it.

"But what?" Kakashi muttered. He scanned the campsite with his one eye, seeing if anything was out of the ordinary, listening and smelling for anything that was odd.

His ear caught something, it was faint, and getting closer.

Kakashi closed his eyes and zoned in on the thing.

'Okay... four legs...' He thought in his head. 'Quiet thing... Must have pads... And... Coming in at a fast pace... and closing in fast.' Kakashi opened his eyes, bolting to his feet.

Several seconds later, as he predicted, the creature leapt out from behind the bush where the deer leapt out from behind.

It froze, then emitted a low rumbling sound.

The genin stood frozen, eyes wide, staring at the beast.

It's figure was illuminated by the fire's light. It stood on four legs, as Kakashi had predicted, it stood a little over one meter high, it's grey fur bristling at the sight before it. Its sharp, white teeth shining with the light, and its pink tongue rolled back as not to bite it when its massive teeth and jaws tore at the object of its choice.

"Wah-... What is that thing?" Naruto stuttered in surprise.

The genin all stared at the magnificent beast, in shock and awe.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura." Kakashi called out their names. "Get up the tree." He stated reaching to his kunai pouch and pulling out a kunai, holding it up and readying for a fight with the beast.

"Sensei! What's going on!?!" Sakura shouted, after she shook off her shock.

"NOW!" Kakashi Shouted at them, glaring quickly at them then back at the beast.

The genin all nodded and scrambled up the nearest tree to them, so they were in three separate trees.

"This is gonna be messy." Kakashi muttered to him and the wolf like beast.

"Why do we need to be up here?" Naruto called out from his branch, hugging the tree.

"Because," Kakashi began, pausing for dramatic effect. "If there's one of these things... Then there has to be more."

The wolf began to pace back and forth, pacing the same track back and forth, its brownish yellow eyes glaring at Kakashi. It would growl viciously and sometimes snap its jaws in the direction of Kakashi.

Kakashi just stood there, watching for any signs of attack or retreat. But, all it seemed to be doing was pacing, trying to make up its mind weather to attack or retreat.

It finally decided...

It leapt for Kakashi, starting the fight...


	3. Who Is This Friend?

It leapt at Kakashi.

Kakashi's eyes went wide. Quickly thinking, he glanced down at the bucket of water at his feet, kicking it over on to the fire, putting it out and creating a vast vortex of smoke and steam.

The smoke and steam filled the campsite, making it hard to see.

Kakashi moved, fearing that the wolf might pounce on him with the smoke and steam floating about.

He ran back and forth for a bit.

Finally, he stopped and stayed in one spot.

He heard the snarling beast growl in frustration, the smoke and steam interfered with its nose and sight, but it still had its ears.

The smoke began to dissipate, evaporating into thin air.

A figure was other side of the campsite, barely visible through the smoke. The wolf was on the other side of the campsite, its rump facing Kakashi. Then it quickly turned and lunged at Kakashi.

Kakashi waved the smoke away from his face, slightly coughing. He looked up and gasped, the wolf was coming right at him.

The wolf pounced on him, gripping its sharp claws into his shoulder and literally, getting face to face with him.

They slammed to the ground, hard.

Kakashi groped for his kunai, blindly along the ground, without breaking eye contact from the wolf; otherwise, the wolf would attack him.

He couldn't find it, it must have been thrown somewhere out of reach.

He panicked slightly.

Then an idea struck him. He slowly moved his leg under the belly of the wolf, and then kicked it harshly, causing it to fly in the air, backwards, hitting the tree that Sasuke stood on.

The tree vibrated violently.

Sasuke wobbled and grabbed onto the branch directly above him.

The wolf flipped to its feet and shook off the pain. It glared and snarled at Kakashi, and leapt for him again.

Kakashi rolled over, not being able to find his kunai, so he lunged toward the wolf.

They came head to head.

The wolf opened its massive saliva drenched jaws, preparing to bite Kakashi.

Kakashi had other plans. He swung his right arm back and flung it up at full force, giving the wolf a bone smashing upper cut.

It let out a yelp, and looped backwards, skidding over the ground.

Kakashi landed, crouching down on one knee. He sighed and stood up.

Suddenly, two more wolves ran out at him, one to his right and the other behind him, in his blind spot.

The one to his right, which he saw, ran and clamped down on his arm.

Kakashi was slightly knocked off balance. He stepped back, grabbing hold of the wolf's jaws, trying to pry them off. He grunted.

"Kakashi Sensei! Look out!" Sakura's voice rang through the forest.

Kakashi just had enough time to turn around and see the second one charge at him.

His eye went even wider. 'Since when did they become so ruthless?' He questioned. He turned and let go of the wolf's jaw that he tried to pry off his right forearm, and back fist the other one in the shoulder, sending it crashing into the near by tree.

Kakashi then turned his attention back to the wolf on his arm. He pulled out a kunai and tried stabbing the wolf.

The wolf bit down harder, drawing blood and ripping clothe.

He winced slightly.

Several other wolves came running out and jumped onto him, burying him under a mound of five wolves.

Then five more wolves ran out of nowhere and piled on top of the growling and moving mound, including the one's that he knocked away earlier.

You couldn't see Kakashi anymore.

The genin feared for the worst.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura's voice shrieked.

"That's it! I'm going down there." Naruto stated, starting to climb down the tree in which he perched.

"No! Naruto!" Sasuke called out from another tree.

Naruto stopped his climb.

"Look." Sasuke shouted.

Naruto stopped and looked over his shoulder.

The mound began to move.

"Hyah!" Kakashi's voice rang out.

The mound of wolves exploded off him, scattering them everywhere.

Kakashi was tattered and scrapped due to the claws and fangs of the wolves.

He then made the hands signs for a jutsu. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He shouted.

Ten other Kakashis popped up out of nowhere. They all charged at a certain wolf.

The real one stood there, catching his breath and monitoring the fight. He watched for the wolf with the red eyes the deceased man talked about earlier. 'None of these have the eyes, this mustn't be the pack.' Kakashi thought.

Soon the jutsu was deteriorating and the clones vanished in a cloud of smoke if the wolf bit, scratched, or threw it against a tree.

"No!" Kakashi gasped.

The wolves looked at the real Kakashi with hunger in their eyes.

Kakashi stepped back and made the hand signs again. "Shadow Clone-"

"Enough!" Someone's voice yelled. It seemed to becoming from every direction.

The wolves stopped, as did Kakashi.

The wolves turned their heads to look behind them. They separated, making a pathway.

A huge wolf gracefully walked down the path that the wolves made.

This wolf was huge! It must be their leader.

The humans stared at it with awe and amazement from where they stood, or sat.

The wolf was the color of grey pavement; she was about one and one to two thirds of a meter high, four to five feet. She held her head up high, her fluffy tail flowing behind her, and her face blank with expression. Moreover, as she passed, the wolves bowed their heads, lowering their ears and tails to a submissive position.

She finally stopped when there were no more wolves between her and Kakashi.

"How... Dare you attack my pack!" She snapped viciously at him, raising her lip just slightly, and scowling at him with her brownish yellow eyes.

"I'm sorry, but they attacked me..." Kakashi tried to explain, putting his kunai away; he bowed once it was away. "I was resting when one decided that I was lunch instead of that deer and-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" She snapped again. "And how dare you accuse my kin of attacking you and your little pets up there." She meant Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto.

Kakashi was slightly shocked. "I'm sorry." Kakashi explained. "But, I have reason to believe that your clan has been responsible for the resent deaths around the forest."

"We have nothing to do with it, Kakashi!" The wolf spat. "You should know that!!"

The genin looked at each other, confused.

"How does she know him?" They whispered to one another, shrugging in response.

"But... I think I do know someone that might." The wolf seemed to calm down.

Kakashi leapt at this chance, not literally. "Goddess of the Forest," He kneeled as if he were in front of the Hokage himself. "I seek your wisdom and guidance."

The genin had weird looks on their faces; they have never seen him acting like this.

The wolf looked around and took several steps closer to him. "What is it of my wisdom do you seek?" She asked.

"A wolf," He stated.

The Goddess looked at him quizzically.

"One with eyes of blood," He added on.

She looked left and right again. "You won't find her here..." She looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi perked up, listening closely to her words.

"She isn't here, as you can see. But, she is my daughter, but not a daughter from me." As she stated this, she turned and walked off, her pack following her.

Once she was gone, Kakashi stood up, crossing his arms and placing a hand under his chin, rubbing it while he was thinking.

"Wow." Naruto stated as he slid down the trunk of the tree, landing on his feet. He then turned around and scratched his head, looking at Kakashi. "She likes to talk in riddles."

"Look out below!" Sakura's voice rang out as she fell from the tree on top of Naruto. "Phew! Thanks for breaking my fall Naruto." She looked at him.

Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "No problem." He stated airy, and sounding as if in pain.

"You're both pointless." Sasuke stated as he jumped down from the tree and landed next to them, crouching then standing up.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked. "What's going to happen now?"

"Could you get off of me?!" Naruto yelled.

But she didn't move.

"Who was she?" Sasuke asked, walking up next to Kakashi.

Naruto was struggling with Sakura and had to push her off of him.

"That..." Kakashi was broken from his train of thought. "Was Naruka." He didn't turn around to face them.

"Naruka?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes." Kakashi sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "She's the Goddess of the Forest."

The three genin still had question marks over their heads.

"And you know her how?" Sakura slowly asked.

"Ah..." Kakashi stopped, he didn't know what to say, or for that matter, how to say it. "A friend of mine." He looked down.

"Oh." Naruto and Sakura said in unison.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Not now, Sakura." Sasuke stated, nodding over to Kakashi and his state of being.

Kakashi's shoulders slumped, his posture lame and head bowed.

"Oh..." Sakura sighed.

Kakashi jumped into a tree to fall asleep, or do whatever he does.

The three genin shrugged and spread out and fell asleep on the ground.

In the morning, Naruto woke up and stretched noisily.

Sakura was making breakfast and Sasuke was sitting on a rock, pouting.

Naruto glanced up in the tree where Kakashi sensei was supposed to be.

But he wasn't, he was gone! Nowhere to be found!

Kakashi was on the edge of the forest, by the northern part of the country by the mountain range. On top of one of the flat mountains sat the ruins of a once beautiful manor.

The wooden planks and pillars still stood, random clothe hung from various frames and windows, the blackened drapes waved for the unnamed victims burned and killed by the fire. The whole manor still held its shape; yet, was blackened and abandoned after the terrible incident.

Whitish pink sakura blossom petals drifted through the air, creating a peaceful aura about the abandoned home. They drift with the wind, swirling and dancing by themselves, as if trying to show the earth's sorrow for this once beloved people of Konoha, falling from the sky as if crying.

Kakashi glanced up at the ruined manor, remembering that awful day. Two of his companions had died trying to defend the village's secrets and scroll.

He sighed and turned and walked to the west, or to his left, trailing along the outside of the forest's edge until he saw some signs that he knew he was getting close to the burial sight of his comrades.

He buried them far apart from each other, not wanting the wolves or demons to dig up the bodies and disrespect them.

The closest one was the jonin's grave.

He had placed it about one third of a kilometer in to the forest, away from the scene of his death.

Kakashi knelt before the grave, marked by a boulder about the size of a cantaloupe, but more triangular and rough, with a kunai, Kakashi had engraved the jonin's name on to the rock. Stating his name, rank and what happened to him.

It stated:

Keyome Utsumu

Jonin

KIA

Kakashi prayed to him, then stood up and headed back out of the forest.

He trailed along the path, even further west, to where his other friend lay buried.

He buried the kunoichi, the female ninja, further out and away from the wolves' home, for he knew they'd come looking for her.

As he neared the sight, he felt something very odd, like an emptiness or something missing. He placed his hand on the nearby tree as he rounded it. Then, he froze...

The dirt on the grave was soft, the soil was missing in the grave, the plants in the dug up grave had been growing there over the years, the rocks, he placed there for the wolves to hurt their paws when they dug, were scattered around, and covered with plants.

"No..." He muttered running up to it. He stopped at the foot of the grave, peering down into its depths.

...Nothing...

He balled his fists and sharply turned and slammed his right fist against the nearby tree, causing it to splinter deeply. "Damn it!" He grunted in anger. His ragged breathing began to even out. His stiff body relaxed, his shoulders slumped again. "Naruka... Why do you always have to fool around with other peoples' affairs?" He asked himself as he looked up to the bluing sky, patched with clouds.

He then slid his hand down, off the tree and dropped his head, hanging it low.

Later, Kakashi returned to the campsite where the three agitated genin awaited him.

"Where were you!?" The orange clad ninja yelled, jumping up and pointing an accusing finger at him.

Kakashi, who was looking at the ground, looked up and questioned, "Hmm?"

Naruto still stood there glaring at him accusingly.

"Oh," He tried to reply. "I just was... checking up on some things." He sighed. "I do it every time I come out to this part of the forest." He mumbled the last part.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned, being thick headed and all.

"And, what would that be?" Sakura asked, seeming very annoyed.

"Oh, uh..." Kakashi scratched his head, "just visiting an old friend."

"Oh," Naruto grunted, crossing his arms, not believing what his sensei was saying. "Really?"

"So..." Sasuke questioned, "Who, or 'what' is this friend of yours?"

Kakashi looked over at Sasuke, who still sat on the rocks. 'How long has he been sitting on those rocks? He must be very stiff and sore after sitting on them for a while.' Kakashi thought. He then looked down, trying to answer the previous question.

Honestly, he couldn't just say, 'Oh, it's no big deal! One's dead while the other one's body is dug up and missing!' What would they think? That he has a zombie as a friend. That would scare them to hell and back.

"Uh, just... an old group of friends." Kakashi tried ripping it from his throat. "You really wouldn't like them." He added quickly.

"Wait a second!" Sakura stood up, accusing him.

Kakashi was a little frightened, cold sweat on his face. 'Was I that easy to figure out?'

"I thought you said 'friend'," Sakura quoted in the air, "as in one of them, not as in a group!"

"Uh..." He was caught... He reached his right hand to the back of his head and rubbed it, shyly, he must be embarrassed. "Well, you see..." He wasn't thinking, he couldn't just say, 'Well, one's dead, and the other one is supposed to be dead but the body's missing.' Now that would really freak the genin out. "One's just missing... that's all."

'Oops.' It slipped. He caught himself, but too late!

They knew!

He cringed slightly to himself.

"What!?" Sakura exclaimed in shock.

"Well, if one of them's missing," Naruto was thinking, that's not good when he's thinking! "Then, we have to go find them!" He threw his hand up in the air triumphantly. "Believe it!"

"No, no, no!" Kakashi waved his hands, trying to correct his verbal error. He's trying to tell them, 'it's alright you don't have to!' "It's fine, really!" He tried correcting them when they weren't paying any attention to him. "It's all being taken care of!"

"Huh?" Naruto looked at him confused.

"Then why were you so worried?" Sasuke asked in his emotionless tone.

"Okay..." Kakashi stated after a moment of silence, he threw his hands up in defeat. "You got me." Kakashi sighed, putting his hands back into his pockets. "I'm worried cause..." There was a long pause. He closed his eye and looked at the ground. "She's one of my long time friends, and I haven't seen her in a long time. She's the only one that knows what's been going on in my life. She knows what it's like to lose someone close and special to you." Kakashi sighed again.

Sakura leaned over to Sasuke, Naruto leaned in to hear what she had to say. "She sounds like more than just a friend to me..."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Really! It's nothing like what you think!" Kakashi tried to explain, waving his hands in the air in front of his chest frantically, trying to conceal his embarrassment and shame. "I've just known her since her birth, that's it! I swear!"

The genin all looked at him, grudges on their faces, scowling, sulking looks.

"Well, anyways!" Kakashi tried changing the subject. "Let's get going and pack up."

The genin did as they were told, packing up their belongings and hauling them on to their back.

They began to walk around the wood, again...


	4. Blood Red Eyes

By dinnertime, they were wondering around the shady woods.

All was peaceful and tranquil.

"Man!" Naruto complained, walking slightly behind his squad. "We'll never find her!" Naruto pouted.

Sakura pursed her lips and looked at Naruto, over her shoulder, through squinted eyes, "Then why did you decide to come on this mission?" She asked.

"Well," Naruto poked his fingers together. "I thought we would have been able to find her by now." Naruto quietly whined.

"In the middle of a never-ending forest..." Sasuke stated. "You're a genius!"

Naruto glared at his rival, stopping his fidgeting.

Kakashi didn't even care, he was too into his book to notice.

The four-man squad wandered the forest until dusk, which wasn't that far off.

The sun's golden light illuminating everything with its rays, creating a peaceful scene, before the sun actually hit the mountain tops in the distance.

Birds flew to their nests for the night, chirping with glee at the days fulfilled accomplishments.

It seemed all the animals were heading back to their nests or burrows. Scurrying along quickly before night had set in.

They walked along a dirt path that was used by many people, going from town to town, bushes, shrubs and trees covered the three person wide road.

Kakashi had sensed something following the group, for a certain amount of time; slowly creeping closer and closer, not to trip anyone's sense.

Finally, a bush began to rustle, tripping Kakashi's protective instinct. In one quiet, quick movement, he glared at the bush, grabbed a kunai and threw it directly into the bush.

The thing that followed them yelped in pain.

Kakashi smirked, 'That would teach him to follow us.' He thought.

"What's the matter sensei?" Sakura asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Hmm?" Kakashi's head snapped toward the genin, who had so graciously waited for him. "Oh, it's nothing." He turned to follow the genin; he glanced over his shoulder to see if the thing was following them.

The thing didn't come out, must have taken off.

Kakashi turned to the front to watch where he was going.

A mysterious grey wolf slowly walked out of the rustling bush. The wolf had bloodstains all over its matted body, yet no scratches, except for the one kunai present in its side.

It softly snarled and pulled it out with its teeth. Then it glared at the group, walking away.

The targets walking away, unknown to the three genin, and the man, it had better watch out for that man.

He's very protective of his cubs.

The wolf sneezed and disappeared back into the forest, hiding in the shadows.

The group walked until dark and kept on going.

Kakashi had unknowingly wandered off, as he usually does, leaving the genin to fend for themselves.

They were so quiet, until...

"Man!" Naruto's voice rang through the forest. "My feet hurt..." He stated folding his hands behind his spiky blonde head.

"Tuh..." Sasuke tsked. "Want me to carry you?" He asked.

"Really?" Naruto got ecstatic. Pulling his arms down and placing them at his sides. Naruto stopped.

"No..." Sasuke stated, "I was being sarcastic..." Sasuke waved over his shoulder, as he was walking away.

Naruto slumped over shoulders drooped and posture lame. "Awe man." He whined. He followed the group, sulking.

After a moment of silence, Sakura threw a question over her shoulder. "Hey, Sensei. When are we going to set up camp?"

There was no response.

Sakura stopped and looked over her shoulder, "Sensei?" She asked, again.

But, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly a bush nearby began to rustle violently.

The two boys finally stopped when they heard the bush began to rustle. They both looked behind them.

"Hmm?" Naruto questioned. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

Sakura stood there, frozen. Her eyes were wide in terror, as if she were under a genjutsu of horrific magnitude.

A dark figure stepped out from the bushes, without making a sound. Yet, it emanated a low rumbling noise.

'How can they not see it?' Sakura asked her frightened self.

The figure was concealed by the dark night's shadows, barely visible.

Then, it stepped out into the moon's rays, showing its true form.

The two boys jerked their heads back in surprise as the monster unveiled itself.

It was a grey wolf. Its matted fur stained with the blood of it's victims, its eyes glaring a crimson red.

Sakura stayed frozen in place.

The boys were only under its spell for a couple seconds.

The wolf snarled viciously at the young teens.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered to her. "Move..."

She didn't. She didn't even hear her name.

The wolf began to pace forward.

"Move, Sakura!" Naruto whispered a little more harshly.

She still didn't move.

"MOVE, DAMN IT!" Sasuke yelled at her.

Sakura's trance was broken. She came back to earth, in time to bolt off to her right, before the wolf pounced on her.

The two boys split.

Naruto to his right, and Sasuke to his left.

The wolf lunged at its fleeing prey, missing the girl, now going after Naruto.

Naruto was going slow, due to the extra weight of his backpack.

The wolf gained on him quickly, literally snapping at his heals.

"Naruto! Drop your stuff!" Sakura's voice rang out.

"Right!" Naruto agreed, unbuckling the clip at his stomach, to help reduce the weight, and then letting it slide off his shoulders.

The wolf snapped at the backpack, shredding the front two pockets, spilling Ramen, chips, and soda.

Once the backpack was off, Naruto jumped up into a nearby tree, being so much more agile and faster than with it on.

Everyone else also dropped his or her backpack.

Then the wolf had a change of plans.

It went after Sasuke.

It growled viciously in frustration and charged for the last remaining Uchiha.

Sasuke had a plan already made out. He began to run, with the wolf chasing him.

Suddenly, the wolf had a change of plans.

Naruto had jumped down, seeing that it was safe, and to clean up his spilled belongings. He had pushed them under a bush and turned around to be met with a wolf's jaw on his left arm.

The wolf rammed him into the tree and bit his arm, shredding clothe and skin, causing blood to spurt out.

Naruto kicked to wolf off him, sending it skidding over the ground on its paws.

Sasuke threw a kunai at the wolf to gain its attention. He missed.

The wolf turned.

"Hey! Over here ya mutt!" Sasuke shouted, on the opposite side from where Naruto sat in pain.

The wolf went after Sasuke again, easing to tire.

'Something's different about this wolf. But what?' Sasuke asked himself. 'It should be tiring, but it's not.'

"Naruto are you alright?" Sakura called out.

The wolf then turned for Sakura, who was now before Naruto. It charged straight for her.

"Eek!" She shrieked. She then took off, with the wolf following her.

"Sakura!" Sasuke's voice called out, "Don't let it bite you!"

Sakura nodded, and picked up a little bit of speed.

The pursuing wolf also picked up speed.

"Get in a tree!" Sasuke called out after see the wolf gaining on Sakura.

Sakura did as she was told. Once she was in the tree, she turned around and looked down.

The wolf was now stalking Naruto!

"Naruto!" Sakura called out. "Watch out!"

And with that, the tree limb beneath her gave way. It snapped near the trunk of the tree, causing the whole limb to collapse on the ground.

Sakura fell with it. "Ah!" She landed with a thud, knocked out.

"Sakura!" Naruto tried to shout over his pain. He winced clutching his arm.

The cut was deep and painful, it took control over his body, he couldn't move. He grunted in disgust and pain.

The wolf then charged for Sakura, an easy meal that won't struggle or fight.

Sasuke then, charged in and grabbed Sakura's limp body and ran out.

The wolf skidded to a halt, turning its head to look behind it, its eyes still glaring the crimson hue.

Sasuke set Sakura down by Naruto. He turned, pulling out a kunai and glaring back at the wolf.

The wolf turned to face him, growling viciously.

"I shall protect them with my life." He stated to himself and the wolf.

The wolf lounged at his, jaws open, paws extended forward, and claws attracted.

Sasuke glared at the wolf preparing for impact...


	5. Wolf Fight

_The wolf turned to face him, growling viciously._

"_I shall protect them with my life." He stated to himself and the wolf._

_The wolf lounged at his, jaws open, paws extended forward, and claws attracted._

_Sasuke glared at the wolf preparing for impact..._

A tall figure skidded in front of Sasuke blocking the impact.

Sasuke opened his eyes, not feeling the impact.

He was greeted with a back, a green vest with a red swirl, to be precise.

'Kakashi Sensei?' He thought.

The wolf snarled and fought, trying to squirm its way off Kakashi's left arm, on its throat, that's blocking its prey.

Kakashi grunted in frustration and tried to keep the squirming wolf from getting to the genin.

The wolf fidgeted and scratched at him, trying to bite the man's arm.

Kakashi grabbed hold of the matted fur to hold it still, yet it seemed to squirm even more.

This wolf didn't liked to be bossed around.

"Sasuke," Kakashi stated over his shoulder, after securing the wolf.

The wolf had other plans, and bit Kakashi on his arm, not drawing blood, but enough feel as if it was being crushed.

Kakashi grunted, and glanced back to the shocked genin, "Get Naruto and Sakura off the ground, and up some place high." He grunted out; now trying to pry the wolf off his arm.

Sasuke shook off the shock and put his kunai away. "Right." He replied to his Sempai. He grabbed Sakura and helped Naruto up.

They jumped up into a nearby tree, which had a thick branch that was able to sustain them all.

Sasuke set Sakura down and Naruto sat down.

Sasuke watched the fight, helplessly.

Once, when the genin were safe up in the tree, Kakashi got very serious. "Damn you!" He grunted. He took his free hand and slammed it down into the wolf's skull, making a snapping, crushing sound.

The wolf broke its grip with a yelp, and was sent crashing down to the ground. It lay there motionless.

Kakashi leapt over the wolf's unmoving body. He looked at his arm, the cloth had been torn to ribbons, yet, his skin was perfectly intact, except a few red marks.

The wolf twitched then bolted to Kakashi.

Kakashi turned around to see the wolf get up and run straight for him. He tried to react, but too late.

The wolf had already struck him.

The wolf rammed him, with its head, hard, and sent him flying against a nearby tree.

Kakashi's back struck the tree first, causing his diaphragm to collapse, so he couldn't breathe. He gasped for breath, which seemed was not coming to him. He clutched his stomach in pain, trying to suck in wind.

The wolf stocked him, pacing back and forth, growling at him.

Kakashi slowly regained his breath, and stood up, using the tree as support, leaning his back against it.

The wolf went to lunge at him.

Several shuriken were thrown, creating a semicircle around Kakashi.

The wolf jumped back, avoiding the rain of sharp, metal stars.

"Hey! MUTT!!!" A voice from the treetops shouted out.

The wolf turned and glared at the tree behind it, scanning the tree, trying to target the voice's owner. The wolf spotted the owner, and snarled.

It was Sasuke. "Over here!" He shouted. "It's me you want!" Coaxing the wolf toward him, rather than Kakashi.

The wolf ran to the tree.

"No! Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled out, "This is my battle." He glared at the charging wolf, who'd stop and turned to glare at him. "Stay out of this..." Kakashi glared back at the wolf through a lowered head.

The wolf lifted its lips, baring sharp teeth and pink gum, and snarled viciously.

Kakashi threw several shuriken at the wolf.

The wolf used the tree as support to help it dodge the metal stars and did a back flip, landing on the ground, with its paws, causing dust to stir slightly.

Sasuke watched the wolf flip, and was thinking of throwing a kunai at its underside, when a ray of light caught something shiny on the underside of its neck.

Once the wolf landed, it slowly turned and began to circle Kakashi again.

"Sensei!" Sasuke shouted. "That thing has something on its neck! A collar or something that can help identify it!" Sasuke stated.

Kakashi's eye went wide.

The wolf turned and snarled at Sasuke, as if it understood him.

"Oh, boy." Sasuke muttered to himself.

The wolf began to stalk Sasuke this time.

Kakashi whistled.

The wolf turned its attention to him. Then it lunged at him.

Kakashi took out a kunai, "Let's see who you really are." Kakashi muttered to himself and the wolf. He held up the kunai and lunged at the wolf.

Their impact was just a split second, but you could hear major damage being done.

As they landed, Kakashi's right shoulder slashed open. Four lines of spurting blood gushed out, from the wolf's claws. He placed his left hand over it, gingerly. He didn't make a sound over the wound, nothing of disgust or pain.

The wolf was facing the opposite way. Then turned to its right and showed its massive wound, it was slashed from the neck to the shoulder, baring bone, muscle and dripping blood.

Its matted fur along the neck was cut slightly, showing a bluish hued cloth.

The wolf raised its head and tail, straight out.

"Hmm..." Kakashi drawled, looking over his shoulder.

The wolf growled.

Then, something weird happened.

The skin, muscle and bone began to mend itself, cracking, stretching and popping back into place.

It was a sickening sight, even for a jonin.

Sakura had just woken up. She sat up and rubbed her throbbing head. She had just opened her eyes to see the wolf's skin mending, cracking and stretching. "Eek!" She yelped and fainted.

Sasuke looked at her, sweat drop sliding down his head.

The wolf moved, testing out its new muscle, and then lunged at Kakashi.

Kakashi ducked under the wolf's stomach, he glanced up and saw the shine. 'That's it!' He thought, and with that he reached to grab it, but the wolf jaws had met his hand, again, not breaking the skin, just crushing his hand in a sharp vice like grip.

He flinched, taking his hand, with the kunai in it, and stabbing the wolf in the hind leg.

The wolf yelped and let go of his hand, leaping away from him.

Kakashi brought his hand back and nursed his hand. It wasn't broken, it just felt immobile and he couldn't use it.

The wolf turned and yanked the kunai out of its leg; blood coating the kunai and dripping down its leg.

It spat out the blood soaked kunai and looked at Kakashi intently. It charged.

Kakashi stood his ground.

As the wolf drew nearer, he crouched down.

The wolf snarled.

At the last second, Kakashi moved out of the way and shouldered the wolf off its feet and sending it flying.

It hit the ground and knocked its head against the ground hard, knocking it out. The wolf tumbled across the ground, until the forced caused it to skid to a halt, just feet before a tree, unconscious. Feet facing the tree, and back facing Kakashi.

Kakashi stood up, breathing hard. He walked over to the unconscious wolf and grabbed it by the scuff of the neck, hauling it up.

The wolf was pretty big, a little over a meter at the shoulders.

As Kakashi picked up the limp body, he felt something under the matted fur on the neck. He began to fiddle with the fur, pulling it apart and separating it. Once he got the matted fur undone, he began to move the blue material around the wolf's neck, thinking it probably had an ID or the name of the animal.

He kept twisting until something metal appeared.

He hastily turned the material to reveal...


	6. Praising the Enemy

_He kept twisting until something metal appeared._

_He hastily turned the material to reveal..._

... the Konoha symbol; the swirl that turns to a leaf.

Kakashi's eye went wide, he found it hard to breath. His shaking hands shook the headband that was around the unconscious wolf's neck.

'It... it can't be...' He thought.

His mind was racing with images of that dreadful day. He knew she died. He checked her pulse, her breath, everything! But, now why is she right here, in front of him? How can this be? How could he have not known about her being alive for these last five years?

He was so distracted; he failed to see the wolf twitch.

It opened its eyes and immediately went for his shaking hands.

He jumped back as he saw the movement. He barely missed the jaws of steel slamming together. 'This changes everything...' He thought.

The wolf bolted up right, snarling angrily.

Kakashi put his hands up and open, at shoulder height, showing he wasn't going to hurt it. He tried to talk to the wolf, in a calm voice, which seemed to be shaking away at the moment. "Take it easy..." He hushed the wolf.

The wolf snarled and lunged at him.

Kakashi dodged the wolf.

The wolf turned on its heels and lunged at him again, claws extended and mouth open.

Kakashi kept dodging the wolf's attacks, and sometimes going over or under an attack.

The wolf got tired of this game of 'Cat and Mouse' and decided to make a change of plans.

Kakashi went to dodge the attack again.

The wolf knew exactly where he'd go, and he fell for it. When he did, it turned and got him on the left arm again, the same one as earlier. It didn't shred the skin just yet.

Kakashi blocked his neck and face with his fore arms, he felt teeth sink into his exposed skin, he leaned forward, not wanting to fall backwards. He slid along the ground, due to the impact of the 69.18 kg of raging wolf. (About 160 lbs)

This time, the wolf did not intend to let go. It slowly constricted its teeth down, harder and hard, just very slowly. It snarled and glared with crimson eyes up at its prey.

Kakashi began talking to it soothingly. As if, it was a frightened child that he was trying to calm down. He started to repeat phrases over and over again.

He then called it a name.

Sasuke strained to hear what he was saying to the beast, or if he was trying to call Sasuke for help, since his back was facing the genin.

Sakura started to wake up; she sat up and held her head, groaning. She opened her eyes to see the wolf, attached to Kakashi Sensei's arm, and viciously growling.

"Good girl." She heard.

Sakura's eye brows knitted together, trying to gather what was happening.

"Yes, that's right..."

Sasuke also had a frustrated and confused look on his face.

"You are a good girl... Good girl, Rai..."

'Rai?' Sakura questioned herself. 'Who's Rai?' She then saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

It was Sasuke, and... He had a kunai! He looked ready to strike!

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. She quickly reached up and grabbed his arm.

His head snapped to her.

"Don't..." She stated simply, "He's trying to calm it." Sakura then looked down to their Sensei.

Sasuke grunted in disapproval as he put away his kunai. He felt helpless, standing there watching his Sensei become dog chow.

"It's alright, girl... It's okay..." Kakashi stated as her raised his free hand to try to stroke the wild wolf's head.

The wolf growled as it watched the oncoming hand. As it drew nearer, the growling got even more distinct and then it bit down slightly harder.

Kakashi jerked a little bit, due to the sharp teeth and squeezing pressure. He slowly moved his hand away and placed it on his upper part of his captive arm. He knew better then to make her angrier then she already was. "It's okay." He said, regaining his voice.

He couldn't sound weak, or else... she'd kill him... He couldn't sound angry, that would only get her more pumped up and vicious. He had to relax. He closed his eyes and sighed. Taking in deep breaths and letting them out slowly. He then opened his eyes, staring into the piercing blood red ones of his friend.

Those eyes... those eyes... they were full of anger, rage, betrayal, no mercy, and ready to kill at any moment.

This was how she looked when this beast was released.

Kakashi felt his heart sink into his stomach. 'How long has she been like this?' He questioned himself. He couldn't help but wonder. "Rai..." He whispered his voice sounding hurt.

The wolf's eyes widened slightly. This was it, this was what she's been waiting for! She bit down, harder than ever, trying to connect the two parts of her mouth, through the bone and flesh.

Kakashi grunted, squeezing his eyes shut, as his flesh ripped and his blood spilled out into the wolf's mouth. He knew this was to only way to calm her... with his blood.

Blood flowing freely from the wound into the wolf's mouth, tasting the metallic like flavor of the reddish liquid.

Kakashi reached up to his crooked konoha and pulled it up, revealing the scar that covered his eye for years, and his prized possession; his sharingan eye. "You're a good girl, Rai." He said soothingly.

"What's he doing?" Naruto asked, still holding his injured arm.

Sakura became pale, and fell backwards, fainting.

Sasuke and Naruto both looked at her, sweat drops running down the back of their heads.

Rai's eyes slowly began to fade to their normal brown color. The snarling began to subside down to a small whimper. Her jaws began to loosen their grip around her friends arm. Her ears flicked forward then flat back. She spat out his arms, literally.

Blood slowly spurt from the wounds on Kakashi's arm.

Rai put her tongue out and shook her head. She then scrapped the blood off her tongue, using her front teeth, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. She backed up and sat down. Wiping her right paw across her face, she then turned around began to chew on her back, trying to get the matted knots out of her beautiful grey fur.

You could hear the teeth colliding with each other.

"Rai?" Kakashi asked the wolf.

The wolf, then snapped her attention to the man in front of her, rather than grooming.

He asked again, "Rai?"

Sakura began to become conscious, again.

Rai stood up and made a little 'oof' sound, like a bark, and began to wag her tail.

"Wha-?" The three in the tree questioned aloud.

Sakura was still slightly dazed.

Naruto stood up and used his other arm to point a finger at the wolf. "That 'Thing' tried to kill us!" Naruto accused. "And now it's trying to lick you to death!"

The other genin looked confused.

"Not quite, Naruto." Kakashi stated as he crouched down to Rai's level, which wasn't that far to go. Just kneeling on the ground, and she'd be slightly over you. He extended his right arm out, palm up, towards Rai.

Rai, quickly lay down, trying to get flat out, and her tail wagging.

Kakashi twitched his fingers, motioning to Rai that it was all right to come near.

Rai crawled on her belly towards him, her tail still wagging.

Once she got to his hand, she stood up, still slightly crouched, and licked his hand.

Kakashi stroked and caressed her head with his free hand as she came even closer.

Rai began to lick his wounds, to try to clean them. She then took her right paw, began to bite it and then began to wipe it along his bloody arm. The arm began to mend itself as Rai pulled her paw away from him.

Kakashi stroked her head.

Rai licked his face.

"You can come down now." He stated, glancing up at the genin.

"No thank you!" Naruto noted quickly. "We're fine up here!"

Sasuke groaned, "Stop being a wimp." He smacked Naruto on the back, and Naruto lost his balance and fell forward.

"Ah!" Naruto screamed as he fell and landed face first into the ground. "Mphf."

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted. "Are you okay!"

"Yeah!" He stated through the dirt, so muffled it's barely audible. "My face broke the fall."

"You're such an idiot." Sasuke stated as he landed from his leap from the tree, right next to the twitching Naruto.

Sakura soon followed.

Naruto pushed himself up off from the ground.

"I don't get it..." Sakura questioned, "When she bit Naruto she went crazy, but when she bit you... she... calmed down?" She scratched her head in confusion.

Kakashi looked at the genin then back to Rai, then again at the genin. "Well..." He drawled. "That's kind of hard to explain." He scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out a way to tell them. "I guess, there's something in my blood that calms her down..."

Rai shrugged, as did Kakashi.

"Sure..." Naruto drawled sitting back on his butt and crossing his arms and legs.

Rai nuzzled Kakashi's chest, begging for attention

Kakashi pet, pushed, hugged and handled her roughly, as if he was playing with a puppy.

"My god, Rai." He stopped tossing her head around in his hands and put his fore head to hers, with her head still in his hands. "I've missed you, so much."

Rai whined a little, then turned her face to lick Kakashi's sharingan eye.

He closed it.

She licked his scar that had marred his face for so long, and will always be there, for years to come.

"That's my girl." Kakashi stated once Rai was done licking his face. He stood up, wiped his eye, and placed the konoha back over his eye.

Rai cocked her head. She, then, jumped up and put her front paws on his shoulders. So, she was standing on her hind legs, she was close to Kakashi's height, except she was a head shorter than him.

"Ah!" Naruto and Sakura screamed. They thought she was going to attack him.

"Guys..." Kakashi assured. "It's alright. Calm down. She's fine." He stroked her head.

She panted.

Sakura got up the nerve to walk over to Rai and Kakashi. She slowly reached her hand out to touch the wolf's great head.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted. "What are you doing?" He protested.

She froze, listening to Naruto's words.

"She'll take your hand off... Possibly you head!" He referred to his arm and sensei. "Look what happened to sensei and me!"

That blew over her head. She still kept reaching up to pet the dog's head.

The dog looked behind her, and saw Sakura. Rai jumped down off Kakashi's chest and stood on all fours, facing Sakura.

Sakura stared at Rai's big brown eyes, memorized by them. She just kept reaching out until her hand gently lay on top of her head.

Rai's eyes closed with delight and her tail wagged. She then began to pant happily, as Sakura gently started to stroke her head.

"See..." Kakashi implied. "She's not that bad."

Once Sakura stopped stroking Rai, Rai jumped up on to Kakashi's chest again. Getting nosey and sniffing Kakashi's masked face. He roughed up her fur on her sides and back.

"It's late..." Kakashi stated, looking up at the sky, after Rai jumped down off him.

The moon was barely visible through the branches and leaves of the trees.

"We had better get some rest." Kakashi finished his statement.

Everyone nodded.

Rai sneezed, as a yes.

So, everyone spread out, the genin, far away from Rai as possible, and got out their sleeping gear.

Except Kakashi and Rai, Rai curled up in a little ball, opposite of the campsite of where Kakashi sat, and fell asleep, or what it looked like.

This was going to be a rough night...


	7. The Return Home

Kakashi stared at the flames of the fire for a long time. Often dazing off and going into a slight doze.

His legs stretched out and crossed, arms crossed over his chest and his eye almost closed, leaning against a nearby trunk of a tree.

He was recapping the day's events. 'What could have gone wrong?', 'What did I miss?', and 'And if she is really here, who brought her back?' was all that was running through his throbbing brain. He had to pry open his memory and recapture that horrible day, replaying it over and over and over in his mind until it hurt.

Several questions remained in his mind, 'Could it be Okami? Nah... Or maybe it was just she wasn't dead after all, no I checked her vital signs...'

He sighed and closed his eye, resting his chin on his chest, deep in thought.

He opened his eye half way again, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion. 'But, it can't be him... It can't be Sankaku... She's past the age where-' Kakashi shook his head. 'Stop thinking about that, it hasn't happened and it's in the past.' He sighed. '... Then how did she come back? It's still possible...'

Rai, on the other hand, was always a light sleeper. She lay down when the others did, though they tried to scoot away from her as far as possible due to the encounter they had earlier, and fell asleep along with them.

She still had some mental and physical healing to do on her own, though she looked alright, she still needed it.

She lay there with her front paws crossed and her giant head on top of them, her back paws crouched and kept to the side, ready to stand up at any minute if trouble arose, and her fluffy long tail brought elegantly around her side.

After the fire was going for several minutes, she opened her brown eyes slowly.

She stared through the flames at Kakashi, he was either staring at her, or at the flames themselves. She couldn't tell which. She then saw him draw in a breath and sigh. She didn't know if he knew she was up, she didn't think he did. She then felt slightly tense. Therefore, she rolled over on her left side and stretched. Her legs going to their fullest height, and claws coming out of her paws, her tail, as well, stretched itself too.

Once done, she laid them on the ground and sighed heavily.

Suddenly, he saw movement through the flames and the heavy sigh that followed, distracted him from his deep though and conversation with himself. He glanced up through the flames, it was Rai, she was up! He saw her roll over on her side, stretch and sigh. Kakashi made a slight smile behind his masked face. 'Just like Rai.' He thought. He then made a faint clicking noise with his tongue.

Rai's ears flicked toward the sound. She lifted her giant head to look in the direction of the sound, she saw Hatake looking at her.

He clicked again.

Rai rolled her relaxed and stretched out body on to her stomach; her back legs twisted under her and out to her right, while her front paws faced downward towards the ground.

He made the noise again.

Rai pushed up with her front paws, slid her back paws to where they should be and stood up. She quietly paced over to her master, around the fire, and making sure not to step on any of the genin. Once Rai was at Kakashi's side, she sat down and walked her front paws forward so she could lay down, and placed her head on Kakashi's outstretched legs. She closed her eyes and sighed, after finding a comfortable position.

Kakashi began to stroke the dog's scruff down to the middle of her back.

Her breath began to fall rhythmically as she began to fall asleep.

'Like old times.' Hatake thought. He laid his head against the tree and gazed up at the stars through the canopy of the trees. He slowly found himself closing his eye and fell into a light sleep.

In the morning, the three genin began to stir. They grunted, groaned, and yawned, trying to rid their bodies of the horrible disease called 'sleep'.

Sakura was the first one out of her bag. She stood up and stretched, reaching towards the sky.

"Good morning, everyone." Sakura stated as she finished stretching and began to roll up her bag for the trip.

Naruto sat up, looking as if he was still asleep.

Sasuke just grunted. He climbed out of his bag next.

Naruto tried to wiggle his way out of his bag, still sitting, but fell down on his back. He then turned over on his front and did the 'caterpillar' to worm his way out of his captive sleeping bag.

Sakura had just rolled up her sleeping bag and glanced towards the fire pit.

The embers were still glowing in the pit, yet no fire, just smoke.

Sasuke shook his head to rid himself of sleep and to put his hair back in its proper place. He then looked around. "Hey," he stated, "where's Kakashi?"

Sakura looked around the camp as well.

He was right, their sensei had gone missing, yet his stuff was here, all packed up and ready to go.

"He's probably off somewhere." Sakura shrugged as she resumed packing her belongings.

Naruto grunted and sat up, still looking as if he was sleeping. He mumbled something then fell over, asleep. He soon found himself rudely awaken by a shoe being thrown at him. "Okay! Okay! Okay! I'm up! I'm up! I'm up!" Naruto quickly said, sitting bolt upright.

"Get packed idiot..." Sasuke stated.

Naruto pouted and threw Sakura's shoe back to her, catching it in her hand and putting it back on her foot. Naruto sluggishly got packed and slowly getting rid of his grogginess.

Kakashi finally decided to come back; the genin had everything packed up and were sitting there bored out of their minds.

"Good morning everyone!" Kakashi said, as he appeared out of the forest, waving his right hand in one sweeping motion, a friendly gesture. He then placed his hand back in his pocket. He seemed unaffected by yesterday's previous events that occurred.

Everyone looked at him strangely.

Kakashi opened his eye, and was shocked at the sight he saw.

His genin grouchy and glaring at him as if he did something that could have destroyed the world, or in other words, they gave him a look that they usually give Naruto when he does something stupid.

"What?" He asked. He scanned from genin to genin, trying to figure out what he did wrong.

Sakura shook her head and smacked her palm against her forehead.

"And, you were where?" Naruto drawled, agitated. He was sitting on the ground, legs folded and arms crossed, and his face squinted in annoyance.

Rai came out from behind Kakashi, slightly oblivious to what just happened. She stopped and quickly snapped her head from genin to genin, confused.

"Taking a walk." He stated with a slight shrug and then he looked down at Rai who looked at him and cocked her head slightly.

The genin mumbled and grumbled words like, 'Sure you were' or 'Yeah sure', making sure to drawl them out slightly.

"What's got you guys in a bad mood?" Kakashi asked, pulling on his backpack.

The three genin did the same, groaning in unison. They began to walk again.

As they came over a hill, they could see the village. The genin abruptly stopped and looked at one another in confusion, with question marks floating over their heads.

Kakashi felt their presence slowly linger behind him and he stopped and turned around to see what was keeping them. "Is something wrong?"

Rai had kept going and stopped several meters from Kakashi, she turned and looked back as well.

"Sensei..." Sakura spoke for the group. "Why are we heading back to the village?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said, jumping forward and waving his arms. "Don't we have to find your friend?"

"Nope." Kakashi stated simply. He turned and began to walk again, catching up to Rai.

The genin still stood there.

"But..." Sakura interrupted. "You were kind of worried about your friend, and we haven't even completed our mission yet!" Sakura's voice grew steadily louder as Kakashi proceeded to walk further away.

"We already have!" Kakashi yelled back, waving his left hand in the air.

The three genin almost fell over in shock and confusion. They had already found his friend?

"We... did?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Yep!" Kakashi called back, still walking.

Naruto stood back up and questioned, "And where would your friend be?"

"Here!" Kakashi called as he caught up to Rai.

"Where's here!" The genin yelled at him.

"Right here." Kakashi placed his left hand on Rai's head, stopping then they both started to walk away again.

"Wha?" The three genin were dumbfounded.

Naruto recovered first. He shook his head, and pointed a finger at Kakashi and Rai. "I thought we were looking for a human being! Not a flea bitten mutt!"

Both of them stopped abruptly.

Kakashi quickly turned around and stated angrily at Naruto, in a warning tone that they haven't heard in a while. "You shouldn't have done that!"

A shadow cast over Rai's eyes. Rai's fur began to bristle; a low rumble began emanated from her throat.

"Rai?" Kakashi stated in a warning tone.

Rai suddenly turned and bolted to Naruto at full speed.

"Shit!" Kakashi muttered, he wouldn't be able to catch Rai at that speed.

Rai lunged at him and knocked him over on his back. She stood atop him triumphantly, head low and tail held high. Her muzzle was so close to Naruto's face. She snarled viciously.

Naruto was about to wet his pants he was so scared. He was stunned, as he looked into the eyes of the wolf that pinned him by the shoulders with its massive paws and its claws digging into his flesh.

Rai had bared her teeth to the fullest, showing healthy pink gums and shining, white, razor sharp teeth. Her tongue was curled back, so she wouldn't bite it if she has to bite something.

Sasuke and Sakura were both astonished at the speed and power that the 69.18 kg wolf had generated. Since, Naruto was in between them they both looked to the middle and back. Naruto had been flung a good couple meters. They stood there shuddering and immobile; they were so scared.

Naruto heard a barely audible voice, "What did you just call me?" It was barely audible, he didn't pay any attention to it, he just wanted to focus on staying alive.

The wolf's eyes penetrated Naruto's.

Suddenly, a voice rang out over everything.

"RAI!" It was Kakashi's voice.

Rai stiffened slightly and closed her mouth. She turned her head to Kakashi.

He was glaring at her.

Rai's ears went flat against her skull and her tail went as far between her legs as possible. She whimpered, crawled off Naruto and half-crawled half-crouched over to Kakashi's side, trying to keep as low as possible.

He glared at her the whole way; she tried to avoid his eyes. "Heel..." He pointed to his right side.

Rai did as she was told; she stood by him, trying to avoid his eyes.

Naruto sat up and stared wide eyed at the wolf that had just tried to eat him, and is now acting like an obedient dog!

Sakura and Sasuke helped Naruto up.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked Naruto as they hauled him to his feet.

"Yeah, kind of stunned." He was still slightly out of it, and still stunned, not fully recovered from the incident.

The genin made sure to keep their distance as they kept approaching the village.

Kakashi had made sure Rai stayed in front of him the whole walk home.

Mean while...

Kurenai and her squad were in the training field. They were working on their hand-to-hand combat.

Akamaru was lying down at the base of a tree watching his owner practice. Suddenly, something caught his nose. He stood up and barked several times before taking off.

"Akamaru?" Kiba asked, before going off after his companion.

"Kiba?" Hinata asked before going off after him.

"Kiba! Hinata!" Kurenai yelled after them, her and Shino took off after them.

Back with Squad 7

Rai had been walking in front for a while. As the village grew steadily closer, she suddenly stopped. Rai's nose quivered very slightly, taking in scents of approaching living things. Her ears were also forward, scanning, searching, listening.

The genin and Kakashi stopped and looked questioningly at Rai.

Rai began to growl, head low and tail held high.

The group looked up ahead, in the path, was Akamaru, followed by Kiba and his squad and Sensei.

"Oh no." Naruto muttered.

"Akamaru stop!" Sakura yelled.

Kakashi cursed under his breath again running to Rai. He knew her next move. When he almost grabbed her konoha she bolted off to Akamaru.

"Not again." He muttered. "Akamaru! Kiba! Get out of here! Run!" He yelled to them as loud and as quickly as he could. But, it was too late.

They saw a grey blur come racing towards them; the humans skidded to a stop.

"Wha-...what is that?" Kiba asked Kurenai.

"It looks like a-..." When Kurenai realized what it was her crimson eyes went wide. "Kiba! Call Akamaru back, quickly!"

"Akamaru! Here boy!" Kiba called, but it was too late.

The two canines were about to collide.

Hinata and Sakura closed their eyes and looked away.

When Akamaru finally realized what he was up against, he skidded to a stop and was right in the range of the wolf. He yelped out a cry.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled.

Rai lunged at Akamaru, jaws open and claws attracted.

A gloved hand reached out and grabbed the lunging wolf by the back of her konoha. This surprised the wolf and she let out a yelp in surprise as she was jerked back.

Akamaru turned tail and ran back to Kiba, jumping into Kiba's jacket and hiding.

"Akamaru? What's wrong boy?" Kiba asked, talking into his jacket.

Rai got real agitated and forced against the person's hold on her konoha. She was standing up on her hind legs and lunging forward, or at least trying to.

It was Kakashi, who had a hold of Rai. He had his heels dug into the ground, and yet, this wolf was still pulling him, ever so slightly.

Akamaru responded to Kiba with a chorus of yips and whines.

Kiba's eyes went wide slightly, "Are you sure?" He asked as he looked at the wolf.

Akamaru yipped.

"Kakashi... is that who I think it is?" Kurenai had to ask.

"Well..." Kakashi grunted, "if it's who your thinking what I'm thinking," he grunted again, "Then, yes..." Kakashi tried to walk backwards, he only got several steps before being pulled back to where he started. "Could, you please..." Kakashi grunted. "Get Akamaru out of here?" Kakashi had to tighten his grip on Rai's konoha because his hand felt like it was slipping.

Kurenai slightly nodded, "Let's go." She told her group, and she took off in a blur, as did her squad.

Rai continued to growl.

Kakashi finally let her go. He stumbled slightly backwards and Rai went forwards slightly. When Kakashi regained his balanced, he glared at Rai.

Rai flattened her ears and whimpered. She then turned to her left, and Kakashi turned to his right. Rai's ears perked up, like satellite dishes, scanning for the faintest sounds.

"Hmm?" Kakashi asked as he strained to hear it, it was very quiet, but he could hear it.

Rai looked at Kakashi and Kakashi at Rai, her eyes pleading.

Kakashi nodded in the direction that they were looking before, as a 'go ahead'.

Rai's ears went back and she whimpered a bit.

Kakashi shook his head in the direction again this time as if he was saying 'it's okay'.

He then looked in the direction of the sound.

Rai slowly turned and walked into the woods, then bolted off, disappearing in a rustle of leaves and wind.

The genin were finally brave enough to approach Kakashi, cautiously.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked as he scratched the back of his head.

Kakashi kept staring at where Rai had disappeared into the woods. "Just wait and you'll see."

The three genin looked from Kakashi to each other than to the woods.

Several seconds later they heard a beautiful cry.

"Awe!" The genin's jaws dropped in amazement at the pure tone.

Kakashi closed his eye and raised his head slightly, as if concentrating only on the sound.

The song was beautiful. It was a wolf's cry. It was pure, soft and wonderful. It soon died down. However, the wind still carried it.

"Wow..." Sakura sighed in amazement.

"Who was that?" Naruto asked, in a whisper like tone.

Then another song emanated from among the wind, but this one was slightly lower than the first. Then another joined in, and another, and another, until it was a full chorus of wolves singing together; their beautiful tones blending in harmony. The song echoed off the mountains, played on the ripples of the lake, and danced with the wind, as it carried it miles from the source from which it originated. Once at its limit, it died down. Once the song was over, remnants of it was still carried among the wind, to the people still listening in amazement.

"Woah..." The three genin exclaimed.

"That…was..." Naruto said.

"Unbelievable..." Sakura finished for Naruto.

The genin all looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi lowered his head and opened his eye. He turned and smiled at them...


	8. Heading Home Again

The students stood there gaping; their ears ringing with the wonderful melody of the wolves.

A slight breeze tossed loose clothing and hair around, also bringing back the stunned genin.

Kakashi turned and began to walk towards the village, again.

The genin shook their heads and jogged a bit to catch up to their Sensei as he grew further and further away with each passing step.

Sakura was the first to recover her voice. "So..." Sakura asked as she caught up, after a moment of uncomfortable silence went on between the group. "Who was that?"

Naruto and Sasuke leaned in slightly and looked toward their right, at Kakashi, intently waiting an answer.

"Hmm..." Kakashi glanced toward Sakura then looked up towards the sky, placing his curled forefinger on his chin and his thumb below them, supporting his chin thinking. "Well... I believe the first one was Rai... The second one sounded like it was..." He started thinking, running through the vocal tones of the wolves in his head. "I believe it was Naruka, then the other sounded like Chi, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Naruto stopped his thoughts. He jumped out in front, stopping the group, shaking his head from side to side, and waving his hands wildly in front of his chest.

Kakashi let his hand find its way back to his pocket to listen to the rambling and confused genin.

"Time out!" Naruto made a time out sign with his hand. "They have . . . NAMES?!" Naruto spread his arms out wide in shock.

"Of course." Kakashi stated as if it was so simple, like breathing. "That's how they identify each other, just like I can call you out by name, rather than saying, 'Hey you!'" Kakashi shrugged slightly.

The genin glanced at each other back and forth until their gaze landed back on their Sensei.

Kakashi sighed, his shoulders drooping and his head falling loose on his neck, "This is going to be hard to explain." He muttered to himself. "Okay." He looked back up and the wondering genin. "Do to their cranial capabilities and massive intellect, their communication and society capabilities are incomprehensive to our brains and ways of comprehension and logic."

The genin looked at him confused.

"Okay . . ." Sasuke stated, sweat drop slowly going down the side of his face, like everyone else.

"I didn't get any part of that..." Naruto stated.

Sakura stood there, eyes closed, arms crossed and nodding her head, as if she understood. She suddenly stopped nodding and scrunched up her mouth.

Naruto looked over at Sakura. "So, you understand this?"

"I lost him at 'Do to their cranial...'" Sakura meekly dropped off after that.

Kakashi sighed again. "Probably in words that you can understand. Their brains and society are so complex, that our society today is like living in the Stone Age for them."

Naruto still looked confused.

Kakashi sighed again, getting tired of this explaining. "They have an advanced society that makes us look stupid."

Naruto shouted, "Oh! So that's what you were trying to say! Then why didn't you say that before you started rambling on about nonsense and cardinal whose-ima-what-its and logic and what not!?" Naruto turned around and waved his hand in the air. "That makes a lot more sense."

Kakashi sighed, 'And his grammar is still off by a mile.'

"Kakashi Sensei?" Sakura asked, snapping him out of his silent thought of grammar lessons for Naruto.

Kakashi stood up straight again and looked at Sakura.

"How so?" She asked.

Kakashi was slightly puzzled and then realized that she was talking about their previous discussion about the wolves' advanced society and minds.

"Well," Kakashi looked up at the sky, again. "They can speak many different languages, they have learned to live off the natural resources, they have a very high intellect, and they have established a very advanced ranking system." Kakashi kept on stating the various highlights of the wolves' society. "They even have different clans, ruled by different gods, or in your guys' case, an alpha wolf."

Naruto turned around during the speech and was slumped over, still standing, his arms limp and brain dead, his mouth was slack and drool dripping out of his mouth.

Kakashi looked at Naruto, a sweat drop making its way down his face. 'Guess he can't comprehend most of what was said. Scratch that, all of it.'

Sakura, on the other hand, was very interested.

Sasuke just zoned in and out, occasionally catching what he was saying.

Naruto shook his head, drool slightly spraying everywhere. "And how do you know all of this?" He asked.

"Rai told me." Kakashi simply stated.

"Wha?" Naruto asked, and his body slumped again.

"And, I am one of them." Kakashi shrugged off.

"Oh! I get it!" Sakura said in amazement as she placed her index finger on her chin. "So, if you could learn their language, you could also figure out their advanced society as well. And, if you became one of them, you could become one with the clan."

Naruto was still brain dead.

Sasuke stared off into space, as usual.

"Isn't that right?" Sakura asked. "Sensei?"

"Very good, Sakura!" Kakashi praised and smiled. 'It's not exactly right, but it's not exactly wrong either. Eh... it's close enough.'

"Tuh," Sasuke sighed, "whatever." He turned and began to walk away.

Kakashi and Sakura trudged along behind him, passing a still brain dead Naruto.

Once Naruto realized that he was left behind, he snapped out of the dazed state and ran to catch up. "Hey guys! Wait up!" He yelled from behind.

Once Naruto caught up, Sasuke muttered, "You're such a dork."

"So," Naruto asked, "what you're saying is that if I can turn into one of them, I can be a part of Rai's 'Pack'? Cool!" Naruto had a finger on his chin then threw that arm up in the air on cool.

"No!" Kakashi scolded and stopped walking, he was giving a death glare at the genin, but mostly it was for Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, stopping and turning around. "Then what exactly are you saying?"

"Yeah, you're not making any sense." Sasuke added as he and Sakura stopped and turned to Kakashi.

"You should never mess with Naruka's clan." Kakashi warned in a haunting tone. "You hear me?" He questioned.

"But, then why did you tell us about them?" Sakura asked.

"I told you because you guys asked." Kakashi calmed down a bit. "Just promise me that you'll never change into a wolf or any canine out here, in the city or anywhere else, unless granted permission by Rai, me or Naruka herself." The three genin nodded. "Their territory spans from mountain to mountain or from one end of the Leaf Country to the other, and everything in between. If they smell or even see and intruder, they won't think twice about killing them."

The genin's eyes went slightly wide.

"No matter if it's the grand Hokage himself, they'll tear him apart, limb from limb. They attack first and ask questions later."

The genin were slightly shivering by now.

Kakashi's voice still had an edge to it, "The pack has made a deal with this country, as long as the wolves keep the country safe and rids it of spies and intruders, than nobody will be harmed in the villages, if we respect their wishes."

"And... what exactly... are their... *gulp* wishes?" Naruto asked nervously.

Kakashi can be very intimidating at times; this is one topic he'd never let the genin forget. He had relaxed a bit and put on a cheerful facade. "Simple." He stated as he walked between and past the genin. He then stopped and turned, giving an intimidating glare through his right eye toward the genin, who shuddered in its wake.

"Leave the animals of the forest alone, respect the gods of the forest, and most importantly..." Kakashi paused. He then glared daggers at the genin. "Leave the wolf clans alone."

The genin coward slightly as fire enveloped the scene behind him.

Kakashi turned and walked away. The fire disappearing.

The genin still coward.

"M-mmma-mma-man...... I f-fff-fforg-got how sc-sc-sc-scary K-k-kka-kk-a-shi Sss-ssen-ssei c-ccould b-bb-be." Naruto stuttered, trying to speak.

The others nodded. As the scared genin, slowly inched their way forward; Sakura shyly asked Kakashi, once they finally caught up to him, "Why the wolf clans? Why not all of animals?"

Kakashi was very stern; this was a topic that was to be tread on lightly around him. "These wolves are born demons, born killers, born TO kill, tearing flesh off still living beings alike."

Naruto looked a little green. He placed his hands to his mouth and puffed out his cheeks.

"They have slain countless demons, humans, and animals. Naruka's clan is ruled by demons. All of those wolves are demons, no matter how they look or how wolf-like they act, they're still demons, even Naruka herself is a pure blood, and even Rai." He added the last statement in a soft tone, so only he could hear it.

"So, all those wolves we fought were..." Sakura drawled out in thought.

"Were actually demons?" Naruto finished for her.

"Yes." Kakashi sighed. "I had to prove myself able to join the pack. I had to fight. And by the end, I was a dead wolf walking, stripped of flesh, bone and muscle showing, blood nearly drain from my body. But, thankfully, they have the best medicine, and I healed quickly."

"Well, I guess they have good qualities, as demons." Sakura stated.

"Just promise me that you won't turn into a canine or go messing around with them?" Kakashi asked. "I don't want to be filling out a KIA report for you guys; the Hokage will have my head. And don't talk about this once we're in the village, understand?"

"Right!" The three genin shouted in unison.

And with that they headed off to the village at their normal pace, not stopping every couple of seconds. . . again.


	9. Say What Now?

Once in the village, they went their separate ways.

Sasuke went off to go find a quiet place to sit and ponder, while Sakura continued to tag along. Kakashi wandered off, to do whatever he does, and Naruto, went to go bug Iruka Sensei.

"IRUKA SENSEI!!!" Naruto yelled as he ran down the hallway to his former classroom. He skidded to a halt outside the door, pulled it open and popped his head inside. "Iruka Sensei?" He called into the room, looking around the bare room. "Hmm..."

"Oh! Naruto!" Iruka's voice surprised Naruto from behind.

Naruto jumped in the little crack that was only to fit his fat head and went to turn, but hit his head on the door in the process. The door slid even further open with Naruto's crash course.

Iruka stood there cringing as Naruto's form stumbled back into the classroom and fell onto his butt.

Though his metal headband was in the way, it probably would have still left a mark. Naruto proceeded to rub his sore head, muttering and cursing to himself. Once done griping, he looked up, hands still on his yellow messy head.

"Hi..." Iruka drawled out, still slightly cringing at what had just happened.

"Oh!" Naruto suddenly perked up, as if he was not fazed by the recent incident. "Hi, Iruka Sensei!" He sat there and saluted his teacher.

"You're back early." Iruka stated as he came in and placed the papers he held in his hands on his desk. "I wasn't expecting you guys back until the end of the week or so." Iruka explained. He sat down as Naruto stood up and walked over to the wooden desk Iruka sat at. "How was it?"

Naruto threw his hands back behind his head and sauntered over. "A little shocking..." He said like it was no big deal, "and I couldn't really understand a word Kakashi Sensei was saying about pack of wolves or whatever..."

Iruka sat there with a sweat drop going down the back of his head, 'That sounds about right.'

"At least we found the culprit!" Naruto got excited, threw his hands in front of him, and balled them in fists, trying to contain his happiness. "And! As a bonus! We found a friend! A two in one deal if you ask me!"

Iruka cocked an eyebrow. "A friend you say?"

"Yeah!" Naruto stated. "At least that's what he said..." Naruto's hands dropped to his sides. He looked away to his right talking through a scrunched face.

Iruka was still slightly confused. "Why don' t you tell me of this friend, while I finish grading these papers." Iruka had pulled out a pen and began to scan the papers for errors, and every time he'd spot one, he'd circle it or cross it out.

Naruto scratched his head. "Well, I don't know where to start."

"Why don't you just start out with the name." Iruka simply stated.

"Uh..." Naruto suddenly turned red, then shook his head and gave a nervous laughter. "He kept saying it, but I didn't quite catch it..."

'Great, that helps a lot.' Iruka slumped slightly with embarrassment.

"Hey! Can we go to Ichiraku's for some ramen?" Naruto stated ecstatically.

Iruka straightened up from his slump and thought about it for a while. "Uh... sure... right after I'm done grading these papers."

Naruto groaned with annoyance.

Iruka reassured Naruto. "Don't worry, it won't take long." He waved his right hand motioning to calm down.

Once Iruka was done with the pile of papers, Naruto was sitting in a chair in the first row of the middle section on the right end, his right, and scowling at Iruka, waiting for him to be done.

Iruka sighed and stood up. "There, all done." He smiled at Naruto.

"Alright!" He stood up and bolted to Iruka's side, grabbed his left arm and dragged him out the door, pulling him all the way to the entrance of the academy.

"Whoa! Naruto! Slow down!" Iruka continued to say as Naruto pulled him down the corridors and out into the village.

Once there, Naruto ordered his usual, BBQ Pork, as did Iruka.

They were to only people there besides the cook and Ayame.

Once served, Naruto dove into his, literally, while Iruka ate his calmly.

Half way through, Naruto began to slow down his eating, and began to think about the recent adventures that his squad had just had.

Iruka noticed this. "Something's troubling you." Iruka stated, after swallowing a mouth full of ramen.

Naruto had noodles still hanging out of his mouth, so he just grunted slightly.

"You can tell me, you know." Iruka stated. He took another mouthful of ramen.

Naruto had just gotten done with drinking up his broth and placed his bowl down and sighed with relief and satisfaction. "Well..." Naruto muttered. "It was just something that crossed my mind; it was something that Kakashi Sensei had said when we were coming back to the village."

Iruka had taken another mouthful and swallowed it. "Well, if you're confused about something, tell me and I'll do my best to explain." He took a sip of the broth.

"Well," Naruto pondered. "Have you ever heard about an agreement that was made with some animals?"

Iruka looked at Naruto then swallowed the broth in his mouth. "Uh..." Iruka had to stop and think. He closed his eyes and placed his left hand on his chin, going through the textbook pages and reports he had to read about important documents.

Suddenly, he remembered reading about something that the Grand Hokage made all the Chunin read about.

"Oh!" Iruka stated, ding the light went on! "You mean the one with the demon wolf packs?"

"Yeah! That's the one!" Naruto stated. "Could you tell me about them, the wolves I mean." Naruto asked somewhat meekly.

"Well," Iruka closed his eyes and began to think.

As he did so, some one walked in and ordered some tea. The person was oddly dressed for the summer. The person had on a brown wool robe, hood drawn up so the face was cast in a shadow, legs and arms covered, and very seldom would you be able to see the person's hands, unless movement caused the robe to slide back and reveal the pale hands of the stranger.

"Legend has it," Iruka began, his eyes still closed and deep in thought. His brain raking his memory. "When the village was built and the first Hokage was ruling, this land used to be terrorized by dark evils or demons, as you would call them. The time was of fear and the village was constantly plundered, destroyed, burned, and people constantly killed and hurt during the first two Hokages. That's when it got out of hand. The village was smaller than half the size of the city right now. Then, when the third Hokage stepped up, he demanded to talk to the head demons. So, they met and made a treaty, as long as we leave them alone, the demons will protect us from intruders."

"Those were awful times." The cook, who was drying some glasses, interrupted Iruka's pause. "Several of my friend's fathers were traveling merchants and/or ninja. They would go out one day, and never come back the next." The cook sighed and shook his head. "The wolves got 'em."

"The wolves had a debt to settle with the village after killing so many of their kind." The stranger spoke, startling Naruto. It had a low female voice, it was slightly rough.

Iruka just opened his eyes and glanced at the stranger sideways, suspiciously.

"Trust me I know, Chunin." She stated to Iruka who was still glancing to his left at her. She set down her cup of tea and pulled back the sleeve on her right forearm, and it was marred with faint lines and scars.

Naruto shuddered slightly, Iruka went back to his story, closing his eyes and thinking.

"The legend also states, that their home is littered with the bones of those they killed. Some still with flesh on them, and blood writings on the walls. But, I don't believe so. Some say that once the city feels it's safest and the protectors are away, they'll attack the city. They believe that the wolves are making alliances with the other wolf clans across the borders of the country and mountains. They'll swarm in over every side. They'll be no escape route for us, they'll wash over us like a tidal wave. Destroying everything and everyone in their path, even their own kind. Men, women, and children will be slaughtered.

"But, I believe a demon can't hold a grudge for that long. And if they wanted to have swarmed and killed us, they would have done it by now." Iruka chuckled to himself a bit and then took another mouthful of ramen noodles.

The woman had finished her tea, left the tip and money on the counter, turned to her left and walked away.

Iruka glanced at the leaving stranger out of the corner of his eye. 'Hmm...' He slurped up his noodles and thought to himself, 'Odd... why did she ignore show her face?' Iruka got suspicious.

Once the banners stopped waving from the strange woman's retreat, he continued. "So, any ways... you shouldn't go messing around with Naruka's pack. They'll kill you before you can blink." Too late, Iruka was too late to catch himself. When Iruka realized what he had just said, he made a little noise that came from his throat, and his eyebrows raised and mouth became a thin straight line. 'Oops...'

Naruto was sipping some broth and put down the bowl, he turned to his left to see why Iruka had stopped talking.

"Hey, Iruka Sensei..." Naruto asked the silent teacher.

Iruka snapped out of his little dazed world and returned back to reality. He snapped his head over to Naruto, a sweat drop forming on his head, closed his eyes and waved his hand in a 'don't worry' motion. "Just pretend I didn't say the middle part."

When Iruka opened his eyes, Naruto had taken up a thinking position. His left forearm was wrapped around the front of his body with the top portion parallel to his torso, his right arm was bent and hand brought up to his chin where he had it placed and his faced scrunched, thinking.

"Heh, heh..." Iruka chuckled nervously. "Naruto, are you alright?"

Naruto's memory suddenly clicked. He had pulled his hand away from his chin and put it in the air index finger out, like he was pointing at something that was to the ceiling. "Oh!" Naruto then balled his fist and pounded it into the open palm of the other one. "Now I remember the name!" He exclaimed.

Iruka was stunned, 'Naruto? Actually thinking!?!' Iruka finally found his voice. "That-... that's great!"

Naruto then crossed his arms and scrunched his face again. "I believe it was... Chi... No... Nasaki... NO! I know! It was Rai! That's it... It was Rai!"

Iruka had just swallowed some noodles that decided to make their journey down another part of his throat. He coughed, trying to force the wandering noodles back up and down the correct path. Iruka pounded his chest and gasped for air during his coughing fit. Once he finally calmed down, his labored breathing calmed down, he looked over at Naruto. "Naruto..." He breathed, he coughed again. "Ahem..." He then found his voice again. "You're not playing tricks on me, are you?"

"No!" Naruto stated. "It's true! It's really true! That mutt attacked me!"

Iruka cocked an eyebrow. "Describe this 'dog' to me." He questioned, kind of demanding he back up his words.

"Well," Naruto stated thinking, "It was about this tall," Naruto stuck his hand out about three feet above the ground, "And it was grey, and furry... oh! And a konoha around the neck!" Naruto pointed to his head band and then to his neck.

Iruka looked down, 'Could it be?' "Naruto." Iruka glanced back up. "Do you know where Kakashi went?"

Naruto had some noodles hanging out of his mouth, "I haven't a clue." He stated through ramen.

Iruka continued, "Well, if you see him tell him to find me." Iruka sipped more of his broth.


	10. A Little Favor

Once Naruto had finished his last bowl of ramen, gulping down the broth as he always does, he let out a garlic sigh in satisfaction when he was done.

Iruka had patiently waited for his former pupil to finish his third bowl, which seemed to have flown by because of his deep thinking.

"Hey, Iruka Sensei." Naruto stated as he stood up and lent forward to try to gain the attention of his dazed Sensei.

Iruka had his eyes closed and head slightly bowed, thinking.

"Iruka Sensei?" Naruto stated again, this time leaning forward and waving his hand in front of Iruka's face. When that didn't work he resolved to poking him in the shoulder, "Iruka Sensei?" Then poking him in the temple. "Sensei? Are you alright?" When that didn't work, he asked Ayame for a paper bag.

Ayame had bent down and grabbed a brown paper bag hidden by the counter and handed it to Naruto.

"Plug your ears Ayame-chan." Naruto warned, he placed the opening of the bag to his lips and blew into the bag.

Ayame had proceeded to plug her ears.

"Iruka Sensei..." Naruto gave him one last warning.

The cook happened to come in with a stack of freshly cleaned bowls and cups. He didn't see Naruto, but saw Ayame standing there.

Naruto had blown up the bag and then spread his arms wide, then in a fluid movement rammed his fist and his other hand together, with the bag in between them, causing a loud POP-ping sound.

This scared the cook and made him jump, throwing the plates off balance. "Whoa, whoa~... Whoa!" He wavered and shifted, trying to regain balance of the plates.

Ayame looked over her shoulder, her fingers out of her ears, and cringed slightly as he tried to regain his lost balance.

Once, the chef was able to balance the plates again, he glared over at Naruto, then turned and placed them in their proper spots on the shelves below.

Ayame sighed, than looked over at Naruto and Iruka.

Iruka hadn't budged an inch!

And Naruto was flat on his back on the floor. He then rolled up to a sitting position. "Awe man." Naruto murmured, rubbing his head, "Nothing worked! He must be really out of it." He mumbled to himself.

"Hm?" Iruka opened his eyes and looked to where Naruto sat on the ground. "Did you say something?" He questioned.

Naruto growled and balled his fist.

Ayame just chuckled a bit.

Iruka looked back and forth between the cook, Ayame, and the steaming Naruto, confused. A question mark formed over his head. "Did I miss something?" He asked Ayame.

"Nothing much." She replied smiling.

Iruka finished his last mouthful of ramen before leaving the money on the table. "Come on, Naruto."

"Hai!" Naruto stated proudly and saluting his Sensei.

The next day, Kakashi found Iruka, who was walking down an outside hallway to the teacher's lounge.

"Hey," Kakashi stated, causing Iruka to stop. "Naruto told me you need to talk to me, or something?" He leaned on the railing, hands in his pockets.

"Oh! That's right!" Iruka stated, 'Impressive, Naruto. You actually remembered! You are out doing yourself, yet again.' Iruka thought with a small smile on his face. 'He's growing up.'

"Hello?" Kakashi waved his right hand, trying to distract Iruka's thinking.

"Oh!" Iruka shook his head a bit. "I'm sorry." He stated. Then coughed, trying to get rid of his embarrassment. "Yes. I needed to speak with you." He looked down and the crossed his hands over his chest, making sure not to crush the papers. "So, is it true?" Iruka asked after glancing left and right, making sure no one overheard.

"Hm?" Kakashi questioned. "Is what true?"

"That... Rai's back?" He leaned forward slightly and whispered the last part.

"Uhh..." Kakashi drawled. He took his hands out of his pockets and placed his left on the railing and the right hand scratched his head. "How should I put this?" He looked up and placed his right hand on his chin.

"It's just a simple yes or no question." Iruka stated slightly irritated by Kakashi's drawling and dragging answers out. "Just pick one." Iruka looked down, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes, trying not to pummel the Jonin's head in.

Kakashi sighed. "Then... yeah..."

Iruka's mouth dropped slightly. 'Now was that so hard?' Iruka's smart alack mind replied. "You're not joking... are you?" Iruka asked warily.

"I wish I was." Kakashi sighed. He placed his hands back into his pockets. "It's been so long."

"Yeah, five years is a long time." Iruka replied. "A lot has changed."

Kakashi squinted down at the ground.

"Is something wrong?" Iruka asked.

"I don't know..." Kakashi replied.

"Don't know what?" Iruka asked, having a question mark hang over his head, yet again.

"I don't know if she even remembers how to change into-..." Kakashi cut off, seeing if Iruka knew what he meant.

"Well, it has been a while." Iruka sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. "It'll probably come to her in time." Iruka sighed, closing his eyes. Then he began to chuckle.

"What?" Kakashi asked, confused as to what he had missed.

"Wow... Just, wow." Iruka stated after his chuckle. "It's amazing."

Kakashi had a question mark hanging over his head this time.

"When you think you've just figured out reality, it comes back and bites you in the ass." Iruka chuckled again. "It's amazing, but miracles do happen."

"But, for five years, Iruka?" Kakashi questioned.

Iruka shrugged. "Any ways, I need to get back to-" Iruka was standing up and turned to head to the lounge when Kakashi's voice stopped him.

"Oh!" Kakashi just remembered. "I need to do something tomorrow, so could you watch my squad for me, while I'm gone?" He stood up.

Iruka looked over his shoulder at Kakashi, "Sure... but... What do you want me to do with them?"

"Bring them to class." Kakashi shrugged. "Keep them busy, have them clean, grade papers, do something!"

Iruka nodded. "Alright." He turned and walked away.

Kakashi called after him, "Don't worry, they'll be fine!" Then he muttered to himself, 'Thanks Iruka, I owe you one.' He turned and walked away to his room.


	11. Who Is She?

The next morning, Iruka took it upon himself to inform the genin that they'll be with him for the day. Therefore, he walked over the each of the genins' houses and knocked on their doors. Once he knew that all the genin were informed, he headed to the school.

Once the genin trudged out of bed and forced themselves to go back to the school, they sat in Iruka's classroom, in the three chairs put out for them in the corner, under the windows, waiting.

"Wow," Sakura stated, "I never thought I'd be back here again." She looked around the room.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted, striking up into the air with his fist. "We're gonna spend the whole day with Iruka Sensei! Yes!" Naruto was so tense from excitement that he began to shake, causing his chair to move from side to side slightly.

"Naruto," Sasuke stated. "We're right next to you, you don't need to shout." He lounged back with his arms crossed.

As Sakura was scanning around the room, a brown object on the teacher's desk seemed to be out of place. "What's this?" Sakura asked herself and stood up, grabbing the attention of Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto threw his hands behind his head and leaned back. "Eh, probably a grade book or something." He stated as if it was that simple.

Sasuke grunted and stood up to go look.

Sakura walked over and looked more closely at the book.

The book had brown leather covering it and was about one third meter tall by one point five thirds of a meter. It seemed to be full of something. It enticed her. She had to open it, and she did. She opened it up, the first page had signatures and stuff on the inside cover and the next several pages. Sakura flipped through them.

Sasuke came over to take a peak.

Sakura flipped to a page with a picture that took up the whole page. It was a picture of the chunin, jonin, anbu, and Hokage.

"Hey," Sakura said, Naruto looked at her. "Look at this Naruto." She looked over at him.

Naruto stood up, "What? Is Konohamaru failing?" Naruto asked hands still behind his head.

"No, look!" Sakura pointed to the picture as he came over.

They all looked at the picture in amazement.

"Hey!" Naruto stated, and pointed at the grey dog in the picture. "There's Rai!"

Rai was on the right hand side; she sat lazily with her left back leg stretched out, front left leg to the inside, right hind leg stretched out, and the right front leg outside of that one. She also had a panting smile on her face, as if she was actually happy to see the people peering at the picture.

"And there's Iruka Sensei!" Sakura pointed to him.

Iruka was in the front row, sitting down in the middle.

"And there's Asuma Sensei!" Sakura stated again, pointing to Asuma.

Asuma was in the second row, crouching down, on the end, with a cigarette in his mouth, typical.

"There's Kakashi." Sasuke pointed out.

Kakashi was in the last row, several people away from the end. You could hardly miss him.

"Heh, and there's the old geezer." Naruto exclaimed, pointing to the Hokage.

The Hokage was on the opposite end of the picture, not where Rai was.

"And there's Kurenai Sensei!" Sakura pointed out, she was in the second row, but only two people away from Rai. "She looks different, and why does she have a vest on?"

"That's before she was promoted to Jonin." Iruka's voice rang through the room.

The genin jumped and turned to the door.

Iruka was standing there with a stack of papers in his hands. He walked over to the genin as they calmed their racing hearts. "That picture was taken before Rai's death." Iruka stated setting the papers down on his desk.

"Death?" Sakura and Sasuke repeated, confused.

Naruto shuddered then pointed an accusing finger in Sasuke's and Sakura's general direction. "Aha! I knew it!" Shouted, accusing the two genin, spit flying.

Sasuke gave Naruto a squinted but annoyed look.

Sakura just stared at Iruka Sensei.

"I knew there was something strange about that mutt!" Naruto shouted. "Admit it Sasuke! I was right."

Sasuke wiped the spit off the right side of his face. "I'm sorry could you repeat that, I was having a hard time getting over the fact that you were spitting on me." He stated nonchalantly.

Naruto enraged, crossed his arms and pouted.

Sakura looked back at the photo of the group of jonin, chunin, anbu, and Hokage. "So... Is she a spirit or ghost of some kind?" She asked Iruka, who was also peering into the book.

Iruka smiled and chuckled slightly, "No. Well, at least not anymore."

Sakura had a confused look on her face.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Sakura?"

Sakura scratched her temple. "I remember reading, in the school rulebook, that no animals are allowed to come into the academy, let alone graduate!"

Iruka nodded, listening.

"But, my question is, how did she become a chunin?" Sakura stopped scratching her head and crossed her arms, still looking down at the picture.

Iruka had a serious teacher look on his face, "She's not a chunin." He replied, informing the mistaken girl.

"Jonin?" Sasuke asked.

Iruka shook his head as a 'no'.

"Then what is she?" Naruto yelled, spreading his arms and gritting his teeth.

"Special rank Anbu." Iruka replied, simply.

The three fell over. After a couple of minutes on the floor, they heaved themselves back up.

"How the heck can that mutt be an anbu?" Naruto pointed a finger at the picture.

"Naruto." Iruka warned. Iruka gritted his teeth slightly to stop himself from blowing a fuse. "You keep calling her a mutt, when she isn't."

Naruto got confused. His finger and arm went slightly limp. "What then, is she a pure breed?"

Iruka turned the book so it was facing the genin and so it was accessible to him to turn the pages. "Not even close." Iruka replied. He turned the page.

Sakura stopped him before he could turn the next page. "Wait!" Sakura looked at the picture.

Almost everyone from the first picture was there, and several new faces appeared, but... where was Rai?

"Sensei? Where's Rai?" Sakura asked, looking up at him.

"She's not in that one." Iruka sighed. "That was taken after her death, remember?" Iruka flipped the page back one to the first picture. "Every five or so years, the chunin, jonin, anbu, and Hokage hold a little party to celebrate our duty and loyalty to the village. This one here was taken about a month before she died." He turned back to the first page for reference, and then flipped the page back.

"So, she had been dead for about five years?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto was losing interest. He began to nod his head as if he understood.

Iruka nodded. Then he looked back at the book and began to flip the pages again.

Sakura noticed that there were pictures of the people that appeared in the first picture, but not in the second.

"Some of my former colleagues that died after the picture was taken." Iruka stated as he saw the confused look on Sakura's face. Iruka flipped to a page and then stopped.

The group leaned in and peered at the pictures.

"Hey, Sensei. Who's the girl? She looks nice! I'd like to get to know her." Naruto stated pointing at the picture.

"That's Rai." Iruka stated immediately. 'And I wouldn't be too sure about the 'nice' part, she does have a bit of a temper on her.' Iruka thought.

"That's Rai?" Naruto asked looking from Iruka to the book stunned.

"She looks so young." Sakura stated.

The pictures were of a young woman, looking to be about sixteen. She had long brown hair that went to her waist, and which was pulled back into a low ponytail at the top of her neck, while her bangs flowed freely framing her face. Her Konoha was tied in its proper spot, on her forehead, partly hidden by her bangs. She had brown eyes that looked calm and soft; a small smile graced her lips in the picture. Her skin was slightly pale, but not ghost white. She wore a black shirt that was tattered on the ends, both sleeves and at the hem. Her hands had black fingerless gloves on them, like Kakashi's except without the metal backing.

Sakura smiled. "She looks nice."

"I don't get it." Naruto stated scratching his head. "How can that mutt- I mean- wolf thing, be a girl?"

Iruka sighed. "I honestly don't know, Naruto."

As they glanced at the pictures, some of the faces of the current jonin began to pop up. It seemed that Rai was friends with the jonin, chunin, anbu, and the Hokage.

"All you guys look so happy. She must have been fun to have around." Sakura stated.

"Yeah," Iruka sighed. "I swear, Rai could change people." 'In a good or bad way.'

Sakura began to flip through the book. More pictures, what a surprise. As Sakura was flipping the page a picture caught her eye.

It was Rai, in wolf form. She was sprawled out on her back, head lulled to one side, fore paws straight up in the air and back paws spread eagle, and her tail slightly curled up along her side.

"So cute." Sakura muttered.

"That's a good picture of how lazy she can be." Iruka stated.

"She doesn't seem like the lazy type." Sasuke stated.

"She can be. She'd rather be sleeping most of the time." Iruka stated. "Besides, it was somewhat of a hot that day. So I wouldn't blame her."

Several of the other pictures were of her and Asuma, Anko, Kurenai, etc. Asuma had Rai, in wolf form, slung over his shoulder. Kurenai had her lay on her lap. Anko was probably telling Rai to do some tricks to get some chicken dumplings, because Rai, in wolf form, was sitting on her hind legs and front legs tucked to her chest. Another picture was of Iruka and Rai. Iruka was sitting on the ground with Rai, in wolf form, laying her head atop his, showing the true size of her head.

"You guys could learn a lot of things from her if you'd pay attention." Iruka stated. "She is an excellent Kunoichi. Once she became a jonin, she would not stop going on missions with Kakashi." Iruka looked down at the book. "All she said is that she wanted to learn, to build up strength. As she grew, her and Kakashi became an excellent team. They'd always win and come back victorious, they never lost a squad member on a mission, ever. Except, five years ago. That's when they met their match." Iruka was deep in thought. "A life for the sacred scroll... and that life was Rai's."

The genin shuddered a bit.

Sakura flipped the page. Her eye caught one of Iruka and Rai. Now she could really see the size difference. In her true form, Rai looked about a half a head height smaller than Iruka, who had his arm draped around her shoulder. Another picture caught her eye; it was one of Rai sitting against the base of a tree and lounging back, right knee up and right arm lying across it while her left leg was extended out in front of her. She looked so calm... so peaceful... so... happy?

"Wow," Naruto stated leaning in to get a closer look at the picture. "She looks prettier than Sakura."

"Grrr!" Sakura reeled her right arm back, preparing to punch the day lights out of Naruto for saying such a thing.

Naruto flinched, preparing to get his ass beat.

Suddenly, she stopped. "You know what?" Sakura calmed down real quickly. "You're right."

Naruto sighed.

"But that will only save you this one time pal!" Sakura warned angrily. She sternly pointed an accusing finger at Naruto to make sure he understood. "Got it?"

"Got it," was his meek reply.

Sasuke tsked, "Idiot."

Just then students began to slowly meander into the class, finding their seats.

Iruka sighed. Another day of work, "Alright, you three can just sit over there. I'll call you once I need you." He waved his hand in a shooing motion.

The three took their seats, Naruto trying to slowly inch away from Sakura, so that she didn't notice. But, somehow wound up very close to Sasuke, who just pushed him back the way he came.

Iruka put the brown book in his drawer behind the desk. As he picked it up, a loose paper fell from it and landed on the wooden floor in front of his desk.

Konohamaru came in the door way and suddenly stopped when he caught sight of Naruto. "Hey, boss!" Konohamaru shouted out and waved his hand up in the air. He took off over to Naruto. "Whatcha' doin' here?" He asked, once in front of Naruto.

"Oh, hey Konohamaru." Naruto said, he folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in the chair. "Nothing much, we're just going to be with Iruka sensei for the day."

"Oh," Konohamaru smiled. "This is going to be so cool!" He stated with excitement shaking his body before he ran off to find his seat.

"Why would that kid want to hang out with Naruto?" Sasuke asked Sakura, as if Naruto wasn't even there. "He can't even do a simple jutsu let alone teach one!"

Naruto got angrier and angrier every time something came out of Sasuke's mouth. By now, several huge pulse marks have formed on his head and it began to sizzle.

Sakura just smiled and chuckled, placing her hand on her mouth and closing her eyes.

"Alright settle down now!" Iruka's voice called over the mummer of the class. "Now everyone take your seats." Iruka was behind his desk, standing, but leaning on to it with his hands.

All the children migrated to their seats in a big blob and the mummer seemed to quiet as they each sat down.

Konohamaru went to sit down when he heard a fluttering sound at his feet. He glanced down.

There lay a picture, overturned.

He reached down, picked it up and turned it over, "Hey, what's this?" Once he saw the picture, an evil smirk crept onto his face. "Oh, sensei!" He called out mockingly.

The small boy in the front of his class, rather than the class itself, disrupted Iruka's attention. "Yes, Konohamaru?"

"Is this your 'girlfriend'?" Konohamaru stressed the girlfriend part, goofily.

Iruka suddenly became shocked, and a little embarrassed, a blush forming beneath his scar. He shook his head and coughed a bit to rid himself of the discomfort. "What are you talking about now, Konohamaru?" He saw the picture in the boy's hands. "Hand it over." He demanded and stuck out his arm, waiting for the picture to be returned to it.

Konohamaru impishly placed the picture in his sensei's hand.

Iruka grabbed it and looked at it. He closed his eyes and sighed. "No." Was his response, he opened the drawer and placed the forgotten picture in with the rest of its kind.

"Well, who is she?" Konohamaru asked, impatient and wanting a response, like all children want.

"She's dead." Was his stern response, as he closed the drawer.

The whole room went silent at his remark.

Even the genin in the corner were slightly shocked at his remark to the children. At their age, they wouldn't even understand death, but they know the word. The genin on the other hand, would.

"Oh." Konohamaru sighed, still not certain about his sensei's statement.

"Now, take a seat." Iruka stated to the boy.

As Konohamaru shuffled his way to his seat, Iruka began the class.

"Alright class..." His teacher voice projected over the class. "Good Morning."

The class responded in slight harmony, with several stragglers.

"Today, we're going to be talking about chakra control. And I also have several guests today, so be on your _best_ behavior." He stressed best, as much as he could in the sentence without breaking it apart.

He turned around and began to draw on the chalkboard. A diagram soon appeared of a body and the chakra inside it. Another picture came up with a foot and arrows coming out of the bottom of the foot, representing chakra. He turned around and began to talk about the different types of chakra and the certain hand signs that release different chakras, then about the body's network of chakra.

Naruto was slowly nodding himself to sleep.

"Sakura!" Iruka's voice boomed.

Naruto jumped.

"Would you be so kind as to demonstrate for the class." Iruka asked with a slight smile.

Sakura stood up and walked almost to the center of the class, not blocking Iruka.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." She stated giving a slight bow. "Well, since you guys have been learning about chakra, could anybody name the elements of chakra?" She asked, after standing straight up.

The room was silent; nobody raised their hand.

A small bit of movement caught Sakura's eye. It was a small girl, who raised her hand very slowly and very low.

"Yes?" She asked the girl.

"Uh..." The girl quickly placed her hand down and blushed, "there's fire... and uh... wind... earth... lighting... and water..." Was her very meek response.

"Very good!" Sakura praised her.

"Could you possibly demonstrate some of the elements for us?" Iruka's voice came from behind.

The three genin looked at each other.

Sasuke sighed and stood up, knowing Naruto wouldn't do it.

"Everyone this is Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka stated, knowing that the boy wouldn't speak his name for the class.

Sasuke walked up in front of the class, Sakura stepping backwards, not wanting to get in his way. He made several hand signs to make a fireball.

"Notice that he does a certain combination of hand signs." Iruka stated, trying to inform the class as to what Sasuke was doing.

Tiger. Sasuke took up a stance and placed his hand near his mouth, "Fireball Jutsu!" He stated.

A small fireball, not a huge one to burn down the room, but a decent sized one, a little bigger than his head was created.

The students 'oo'ed and 'ah'ed at the marvel.

The three genin showed the class the other different elements; they also showed what chakra can do.

Naruto focused his chakra into his feet. He walked over to the wall and placed one foot on it. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at his comrades and Iruka sensei to give him a go-ahead nod, which they did.

Some of the class began to snicker.

Naruto then picked up his foot, that lay firmly on the ground due to gravity, and placed it alongside his other foot on the wall, and straightened up.

The class gasped and went silent.

Naruto continued to walk up the wall and onto the ceiling, where he stopped. "Hey!" He called down from the ceiling, placing one hand behind his head and waving the other. "I forgot how fun this was!"

"Now class." Iruka said, gaining back some of the attention of his students. He turned to the board and pointed to his earlier drawing of the foot and the arrows, which symbolized chakra. "The technique that Naruto is demonstrating for us requires a constant flow of chakra." Iruka highlighted the arrows in a blue chalk; he then took a white piece of chalk and drew a line between the foot and the chakra arrows, which symbolized a surface, like a wall. "With a soft object, like water, or some type of liquid, requires a bigger amount, can anyone tell me why?"

A boy with glasses and black hair raised his hand. "It's because a liquid isn't a solid object, and it can't hold our weight, so we need to balance it out." He called out.

"Very good." Iruka was a little shocked that the boy knew that. "The difference between walking on water and walking on a solid is different." Iruka leaned forward, placing his hands on his desk. "If you use too much chakra on water, you'll disturb the water, causing waves and a small water twister around you, tiring yourself out faster. If you use too little, you'll sink, or be half way submerged. If you use too much on a solid, like a tree or a wall, it'll break."

Naruto didn't notice that he started to lose his footing.

"And if you use too little-"

"AH!" Naruto fell flat on his face.

The class giggled.

"That's what happens." Iruka sighed, shaking his sweat dropped head with embarrassment.

"Idiot." Sasuke stated.

"Oof." Naruto pushed himself up off the floor and onto his knees.

"You alright Naruto?" Iruka finally asked him, the kids still laughing. "That was a pretty nasty fall." He glanced up at the ceiling, which was about 3-4 meters up.

"Yeah! I'm fine Iruka sensei!" Naruto replied with energy.

Iruka sighed with relief.

The class died down.

Iruka glanced down at the clock on his desk. "Oh!" He was a little shocked at what time it was. "Alright! Recess!"

All the kids yelled and ran outside.

The three genin walked over to the chairs, plopped down and sighed.


	12. Helping Hand

"Ah..." Naruto sighed. "This classroom sure brings back memories, doesn't it?" He tried to strike up a conversation, due to the very uncomfortable silence since the kids left followed by Iruka to keep watch over them.

Sakura nodded in agreement.

"And being with our old teacher again feels kind of weird too." Naruto stated.

"Speaking of teachers..." Sakura brought up out of the blue. "I wonder where Kakashi sensei went?"

Meanwhile...

Outside the village on a rocky ledge, Kakashi was having a wonderful time scaling the 90-100 degree cliff. With rocks tumbling out from under your grip, being so petrified of falling you couldn't move, and having to climb with your back facing the ground at a 137 degree angle with nothing to catch you if you fell, but the ground.

Kakashi was mumbling to himself between huffs and puffs for breath, "You could have taken the easy way, but Noo! You wanted to challenge yourself... Wait to go, Genius!" That last part made a bit of an echo since he stated it a little louder than the rest. Kakashi groaned as he pulled himself up. "This seemed a lot easier on the ground."

His smart aleck mind told him, 'Everything seems easier from the ground.'

He went up several more meters before muttering to himself again. "Why is this getting harder and harder every time I do this?"

His mind replied, 'I must be getting out of shape... or you're getting old...'

Oh, how he dreaded that last thought.

He kept on climbing and muttering curses to himself, either when hitting a sharp rock, slipping, or getting frustrated or tired. He tried to put a brighter side on things to keep his mind on climbing, "Well, at least it's a good adrenaline rush..." He glanced down and muttered, "If you're some odd hundred meters above the ground and one slip could plummet you to your death, yeah." He turned to the cliff's face and kept climbing; he was almost to the top. "Should not have looked down..." He scolded himself.

Near the top had bad footing and handholds; this made it difficult for Kakashi to climb up easily.

He sighed in disgust and shuffled over to what looked like a sturdy place where he could make a go for the edge.

Once there, he stood on his toes and reached carefully for the edge, trying not to slip on the skinny platform that held his weight.

'Just a little more...' He thought, 'Just a little more...'

His smart aleck mind replied, 'Man, you could use a couple more centimeters on you.'

Kakashi grunted as he tried to stretch his body even further; which was a little too far.

The ledge gave way.

Kakashi was jerked down, then stopped, sighing that his right arm was holding onto the rocks.

And that suddenly gave way.

'No!' He thought, letting out a little gasp in surprise, fear, and failure, all at once.

He fell...

Then a black gloved hand came down, snatching his, causing his body to jerk to a halt.

He felt a pull in his shoulder, 'That's gonna hurt in the morning...' was his thought. He looked down at to what would have been his deathbed.

"Need a hand?" The hand's owner asked.

Kakashi looked up at his hand's captor, sighing, relieved. He turned to face the cliff again, and began to climb up, this time, with help.

Back in class...

The three genin sat in silence as the kids played outside. They sat there daydreaming, dazing off, and nodding off.

Sakura yawned with the lack of motivation she had.

The kids soon came filing back into the room.

The three genin watched quietly as the kids came in, and finding their seats, murmuring still to their friends as they came in.

Iruka tailed behind the class, last in line, to make sure everyone was in the class and filed in, not ditching class. Once in, he closed the door behind him, sighed and walked confidently over to his desk. Iruka gained the class's attention after several minutes of listening to them chattering.

The three genin stood up and began to teach again, once Iruka sensei gave them the go-ahead.

Time seemed to fly by when teaching the young ones. The young ones were excited and happy to have actual genin teaching them.

But, Iruka spoiled their fun when he handed out a packet for the little ones to fill out.

The class replied with a groan in annoyance.

When class was over, the kids filed out, scrolls and supplies in hand, and they all headed to Iruka Sensei's desk and plopped the packets in a pile. Though some kids left for the day, several kids stayed and asked the genin more questions that they couldn't or weren't able to ask before.

The kids scurried out of the class, thanking the genin and rushing out the door to their homes, eager to tell their parents about what happened today in class.

The genin looked at each other and gave each other a small smile of satisfaction.

"Well, I guess we should head out too." Naruto stated beginning to walk to the door.

"Hold it!" Iruka's voice called out, stopping all the genin from following the kids' tracks. "And just where do you think you guys are going?"

The genin jumped and turned around.

Iruka hadn't even looked up from his paper work.

"Uh, we're going home." Naruto stated.

"No, you're not." Iruka stated, writing something down on the paper. "You're job isn't over yet."

And, like the kids, they let out a groan in disgust and annoyance.

"Now, sit!" Iruka commanded them.

And they did, shuffling over to the seats in the front row of the center section.

Iruka stood up, grabbed the messy pile of papers that was placed on his desk, walked around his desk and plopped them down in front of the genin.

The genin looked from the pile to him.

"You guys are grading." Iruka smiled, then turned around and headed back towards his desk.

The genin groaned, and without any other comments, they made a little assembly line to grade the packets.

Naruto graded the first page and then passed it to Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced over the first page, to make sure Naruto didn't miss anything and then graded the second page. He then handed it to Sakura.

Sakura graded the last pages and added up the wrong answers and put the grade on the front of the packet, then placed them in a neat pile to her left.

Iruka, on the other hand, was filling out their documents for their training and little duty they preformed for the day. He had finished the documents before the genin could finish grading the papers. He placed the documents on the left side of his desk and pulled out his book. He scanned the pages, replaying the memories of the days in his head. He then remembered the fallen picture, reached into the drawer and replaced the photo where it belongs. He went back to the beginning of the book and stared at the picture of all the chunin, jonin, anbu and Hokage together, his memory getting lost in the events that happened that day.

The three had just finished. Sakura gathered the papers, walked up to Iruka's desk and placed them on it. "Here you do Iruka sen-" Sakura began, then saw he wasn't paying attention, "sei..." She noticed he was deep in thought, lost in his own little world. She didn't bother to ask questions, so she just turned and walked back to her chair, leaving him be.

"Is he alright?" Naruto asked her as she came back from dropping off the papers.

"Yeah." She sighed. "Just lost in thought." She sat down.

It was a good fifteen minutes of silence, but it felt like forever. Then, someone opened the door and in stepped-

"Kakashi sensei!" Sakura and Naruto stated, happy to finally get relieved from their dull duty.

"Hello everyone." Kakashi said, in a cheery tone. He smiled at the three genin. He then looked to his right to see Iruka off in a daze. "Iruka?"

Iruka blinked, jolted his head to the left to see Kakashi standing there. "Oh!" Iruka jumped up, and kind of staggered, for getting up so fast. "Kakashi sensei, uh..." He turned to his desk, coughed and grabbed the papers.

"Sorry, Iruka." Kakashi apologized as he scratched the back of his head. "I didn't mean to surprise you."

Iruka walked up to Kakashi and handed him the paper work for the genin.

"No," Iruka assured, "It's alright, it was my fault in the first place. I shouldn't have dazed off." Iruka chuckled. "So, where's Rai?"

"With Naruka." Kakashi replied scanning the papers, making sure they were completely filled out.

Iruka tried to keep it so only Kakashi and himself could hear the question, "Would you mind if I went to go see her?"

"No." Kakashi assured, looking up from the papers. "Not at all, go right ahead." He waved his hand, reassuring his comment.

Naruto jumped in between Kakashi sensei and Iruka, causing them to stumble back slightly.

"Could we go see her?!" Naruto asked excitedly. "Cause we'd like to meet her in person, as a real person. Cause we all saw, she's really pretty! And looks really nice!"

Kakashi gave Iruka a slight glare at the last part of Rai being nice.

Iruka saw this out of the corner of his eye and looked at Naruto with a bit of shock. "Now, now." Iruka said that as he waved his hands in front of him, his face sweat dropped. "I don't think I should have asked that question." He whispered to Kakashi. "Maybe next time you'll meet her."

"Oo! Naruto!" Sakura raged. "What did we talk about!?!" She stood up with a balled fist in front of her face.

Sasuke was a little uneasy, so he slowly scooted away from the flaming Sakura.

"I told you that would only work for that one time!" Sakura shouted angrily.

Naruto hid behind Iruka.

"Any ways," Kakashi interrupted. "You guys are free to go."

"Alright!" Naruto shouted and took off down the hallway.

"Hey!" Sakura ran to the door and yelled after him. "Don't think you could get off that easy!" She took off after him.

Sasuke sighed and hung his head. "Better go stop them before they ruin any more hallways..." He stated as he walked out the door.

Kakashi sighed, "Better go make sure Sakura doesn't kill Naruto..." He walked over to the door. "Bye." He then walked the way his squad went.

Iruka was left standing there, scratching his head in confusion.


	13. Playing Catch up

An hour later, Iruka was a good kilometer or so away from the village walls.

The place he was seeking was a good several kilometers away from the village, embedded into the side of a mountain.

He ran most of the way but slowed down to a walk when he got closer. He had first taken the path, but then went into the woods. He jumped from branch to branch, tree to tree, knowing where he was going, he could do this with his eyes closed, but wouldn't recommend it.

Once he was close, about half a kilometer away, he jumped to the ground and began to walk.

The shady forest was cool and relaxing; the soft noise of the trees rustling in the wind.

He came to a very small clearing right before the steep slope of the mountain hit the ground.

There, stood a giant entrance to a cave embedded in the mountain's side. The entrance was a grand arch. The cave's mouth was yawning wide and tall, the stalagmites that hung threateningly from the top of the cave, like razor sharp teeth ready to close on its victim, trapping it forever in a rocky tomb. The light quickly faded and changed into pitch-black darkness, you could barely see anything a meter into the cave if you were standing outside. The cave dwarfed Iruka's stature. It was threateningly tall, at least five meters, and that was just a rough estimate.

Iruka cautiously approached the cave, knowing what he was getting into. However, it was years since he's been here, who knows what they'd do to him. He walked to his right, to the base of the arch. He placed his right hand on the right leg of the arch, he couldn't go any further, even if he wanted to. He called into the dark abyss after peering into it for a while. "Rai?" He called out, his voice echoing off the cavern walls. He slightly winced, he didn't want his voice to be that loud.

Nothing.

He called again. "Rai?! It's me! Iruka!" He heard something move in the darkness. Iruka unconsciously backed up slightly, bad move.

Two giant, grey wolves leapt out of the shadows of the cave. They bared their razor sharp, white teeth, their fur standing on end, tails held straight up in a dominating posture, and their throats rumbled with threatening snarls.

"What do you want, human?" A very threatening low and hoarse voice stated, viciously. It seemed to be coming from the wolf on the left.

"Uh..." Iruka was a little scared, "I'm here to see Rai-sama..." He had to keep his wits up with these two.

They two laughed, evilly.

"Of course you are." A low toned voice stated, not as low as the first, but hoarse enough to send shivers down anyone's spine. This came from the wolf on the right, who seemed to drawl out the sentence. Glancing at the two, you couldn't tell any difference between the two, except the voices. However, if you looked closer, they had differences about them. The right one had a faint mark on his right front leg, and the wolf on the left had faint marks on his body, one was on his head, and it looked like an 'X' just above his right eye. One line slanting downwards towards the wolf's left was shorter than the other that went over his right eye. This wolf had them several other places on his body; he seemed to wear them with pride.

"You'd better run while you have the chance." The one on the left said.

"What's the point?" Iruka asked the large wolves. "You'll out run me anyways."

They both chuckled. The one on the right answered, "We'll give you a head start. So, you'll probably live ten seconds longer."

They both began to advance forward, their mouths drooling. Their hackles raised in excitement.

Iruka saw this and stepped backwards, ready to bolt.

Their muscles tensed, ready to pounce-

"Tsume!" A middle toned female voice snapped harshly from the inside of the cave, the wolf on the left, winced slightly, and turned his head to look into the cave. "Miroku!" The female voice snapped at the other wolf, who did the same as Tsume.

A large grey wolf, about their size, with a konoha placed around its neck, gracefully walked out of the shadows of the cave, placing one soft pad in front of the other.

The two wolves slightly hunched over, tails slightly tucked, ears flat back, and crawled to the cave, behind the wolf that appeared from the shadows.

Iruka let his breath go, he didn't know he was holding it. 'Thank you, Rai,' was his thought.

Rai glared at them the whole way, until they went past her shoulders, she then averted her attention to the chunin.

The two wolves relaxed a bit, once they were behind Rai.

"Can we at least have a bite?" Tsume asked behind Rai.

Rai turned, snarling and snapped at Tsume's rump.

The two wolves took off into the darkness of the cave.

Rai shook her head and tsked at them. She turned her head to look behind her at Iruka. "I'm sorry about them." She said.

Iruka shook his head shaking off the shock. "It's alright." Iruka sighed. A shiver was sent through his body as he realized what he had gotten himself into.

"They are still young, you know?" She stated, looking from him, back to the cave.

Iruka tried to change the subject. "It's great to see you again, Rai."

Rai turned her body around so her side was facing him. "Tuh, don't flatter yourself."

Iruka crouched down to her level, and held out his hand.

Rai looked at his hand then walked over to him and placed her head in his upturned hand.

Iruka took his other hand and stroked her large head. "You look good." He dropped the hand that was under her chin as he rubbed her ear.

Rai closed her eyes and panted happily, giving him her little doggy smile. She loved when people rubbed her ears. She leaned into his hand.

His hand slowly started moving away, she leaned further, lost her footing and fell.

"Eep!" She yelped as she fell. She wound up on her back, all four paws in the air. She twitched her right paw up in the air, "I'm okay!"

This caused Iruka to chuckle. "You're a nut!" Iruka exclaimed as he quickly rubbed her chest.

Rai panted and wagged her tail. She then rolled over and got to her feet. She shook, her konoha twisting with her body, but then wound up on the left side on the back of her neck, making her look odd.

Iruka chuckled as he stood up, smothering her head with his hand. He repositioned the konoha in its proper place.

She then asked, as he put both hands in his pockets, "Do you want to take a walk with me?"

Iruka just smiled as she turned to the woods and began to walk off, she glanced back to see if he was following. They were a good forty meters in, when Iruka finally broke the silence. "So..."

Rai stopped and looked up at him.

"Where have you been staying all these years?" Iruka asked.

Rai's ears went somewhat limp, going flat out to the sides. She glanced down. "Ah... well... I... ah..." she was trying to figure out how to word it. "How should I say this?" She asked him.

"Just," Iruka shrugged, "say what you want to."

Rai looked up at him and then back down at the ground. She sighed, "The first several years or so I was in an unconscious state. Once I woke up... I had kind of lost it..." Rai stated, finding the ground more interesting than Iruka. "The seals placed on my body had lost their power and my demon side got out, but as long as I stayed in the cave, Okami protected me against my demon." She shied away, "I stayed in the cave for who knows how long. But, when I went outside, the demon was released…" She looked depressed, her nose directed towards the ground, her tail was limp, and her ears lay flat out to the side.

Iruka cocked an eyebrow.

Rai sensed Iruka's confusion. She turned her head towards him and looked up at him. "My father…"

Shock suddenly stiffened Iruka's body. 'Oh no.' was his thought. His mind raced.

"It's alright though." Her words bringing Iruka's racing mind to a halt. "I'm past the age. So, it might not even happen." She exclaimed. She turned her head to the way her body was facing and began to walk again.

After several steps, she didn't hear Iruka following her. She stopped and turned her head to look behind her.

When she did that, her eyes went wide slightly, her hackles raising, until she realized that the dark brown wolf was Iruka.

Iruka had transformed into a wolf, and was sitting on his haunches looking at Rai. He had his trademark scar on the top of his muzzle and his forehead protector above his eyes and bound in a knot behind his ears.

It had only taken her about 3 seconds to realize that it was Iruka, and not some trespasser. "You know you shouldn't do that." Rai stated, looking his wolf form up and down, inspecting it. "Nice color, too." With that, she turned her head back the way she was walking and slowly walked away.

Iruka lifted up his right paw and looked at the back of it. He then set it down and looked back to her through a lowered head. "I'm color blind." Is all he stated. He then got up and trotted after her. "What color?" He asked when he caught up to her; he slowed down to a walk when his shoulder was slightly past her hip.

Rai turned and looked at him, "Dark brown," she stated, "like the color of your hair." She then turned to look in front of her and kept walking.

"Oh." He stated, as he stopped. Then he cocked his head to the right, thinking. He then shrugged and walked off after her.

They soon came upon a light grey wolf, which was walking their way, head down, eyes focused on the ground and ears pointed forward. Its eyes soon flicked up to the oncoming wolves. It stopped, lifting its head.

Rai just kept walking on, as did Iruka.

"Rai?" It asked as Rai approached a meter mark away. "What are you doing? Isn't it Kiori's turn?" It was a very beautiful and fluid female voice, almost like velvet. Her head turned following the two as they walked by.

"It's alright, Megami." Rai stated to the confused wolf. She glanced back. "I'll take her turn, and besides," she turned to face forward. "I have some catching up to do."

Iruka made sure he stayed with Rai, so he didn't get jumped by Megami.

Megami just shrugged and walked off, back to the den.

Rai and Iruka had started to climb a slight incline, about thirty five degrees.

Iruka slowly started to lag behind, panting.

Rai, on the other hand, was walking normally, as if nothing was wrong. She glanced behind her quickly, seeing Iruka lagging. "Hurry up, Iruka!" She called back, still walking.

"Hurry up, Iruka." Iruka mumbled, mockingly. He slowly sped up.

They finally got to a ledge where they could see the whole valley.

The sun was setting beyond the mountains.

Rai sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws. She sat up straight, shoulders pulled back proudly, chin parallel with the ground, ears pointed forwards to the valley, and eyes set still, gazing at the colorful sunset.

Iruka sat down too, his tail slightly curling around his right side, but still sticking out straight.

They sat there, watching the sunset in silence.

Iruka broke the silence once the sun hit the top of the mountain. "Beautiful… isn't it?" He asked and then looked at Rai.

Rai sighed, "Yeah." She glanced down to the ground, then back up to the sun. "Okami used to bring us up here every once in a while." She paused for a bit, "When he was still alive." She glanced down again. "It really started to grow on me." She then looked up again at the ever setting sun. "This place is special to me, it's. . . Spiritual, in some way."

"You mean?" Iruka questioned.

"Yes." She sighed. "I just don't understand why people make up such horrible stories about him." She stated as she glanced at Iruka. "He was very, very sweet. He wasn't a ruthless killer, like everyone says." She looked back out to the sunset. She could picture his profile in the setting sun, as if he were watching over them. She had quick flashes of memories, her spending time with her foster family, before Okami died, her foster father.

They were silent for a long time.

Iruka had heard a little whine, his now sensitive ears flicked towards the sound. It was to his left, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rai lower her head. He looked over at her, turning his head.

She slouched over, ears out to the side, eyes downcast.

He felt bad.

She let out a little whimper. "I miss him."

"Hey," he tried to assure her. He scooted closer to her and put his head on the back of her neck. "It's alright, it's alright."

"Thanks." She sighed. She pushed against him slightly.

He took his tail, tucking it under, and wrapping it around her tail.

Soon, a deep howl emanated itself.

Rai and Iruka perked up.

"That's Naruka." Rai stated, as she stood up. "She wants me back."

Iruka stood up as well.

"Thank you, Iruka." Rai stated, slightly bowing her head to him. "You truly are a good friend." She stated before turning her back to him and beginning to walk away. She stopped and looked behind her. "I'll see you around." And with that she took off, at top speed.

Iruka stood there in awe as the leaves in her path made no sound and were tossed into the air, gently floating back down to the ground. He shook his head, snapping back to reality. He changed back into his regular form; if he was seen out here in a canine form would be a death sentence by the Okami. He then bolted back to the village.


	14. Get To Know You

The next day, the three genin were sitting outside, on the three wooden stumps used as practice dummies, by the lake, waiting for their sensei.

"Grr…" Naruto growled. "Why is he always late!?"

"Calm down, Naruto." Sakura exclaimed, crossing her legs at the ankles that hung off the stump. "Don't get mad at Kakashi Sensei, even though he is forty five minutes late." Sakura muttered the last portion of the sentence.

There was a bit of silence.

"WHERE IS HE!?!?!" Sakura shouted, jumping off the stump, annoyed.

Naruto jumped slightly, putting his arms up to defend himself. 'Geez, and you're telling me to cool it.' He thought.

Then, as if on cue, Kakashi sensei came walking down the path, with Rai trotting along beside him, to his left.

"Hello, everyone." He greeted them as he came within earshot, taking his right hand out of his pocket and giving a single wave to them.

Rai sneezed as a 'hello.'

Kakashi brought his hand back down and stuck it back in his pocket.

By this time, all three genin were off their seats and standing up on the ground, glaring at Kakashi and Rai.

"You're late!" They all shouted in unison, pointing their accusing fingers and fire consuming their eyes, all directed at Kakashi.

"Yeah," Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, closing his eye. "Sorry about that. I needed to get Rai." He then looked down at her.

She looked back up at him, gave an airy 'oof', wagging her tail and giving him her doggy smile.

Naruto had about enough of this. He threw his arm out again and pointed the accusing finger at Rai. "Okay, that's it!"

Rai cocked her head to the side.

"Stop acting like a god damn dog and act like a human for once!" Naruto was making funny gestures, like a dog. He began to run around shouting and acting goofy. "Oh! Look at me! I'm a dog! Woof woof! Oh! Pet me! Pet me!" He ran around.

Once he got near Sasuke, Sasuke reached out and grabbed him by the back of the collar, jerking him back, and smacked him. He let go of Naruto's collar, and the orange idiot fell on the ground, on his back.

"Thank you, Sasuke."Both Sasuke and Sakura almost jumped out of their skin and turned to face the wolf. "That was getting annoying." Rai's jaw moved along with the words. Her voice was slightly hoarse and slightly lower than a middle tone on a female voice.

Naruto sat up and looked at the talking wolf. "Ha!" He threw out his hand again, pointing at Rai. "I knew it!"

Sakura pummeled his head into the ground. "Naruto!" She shouted, angrily. "Shut up!"

Naruto rubbed his head.

"Well, now that's settled." Rai sighed, "I guess you guys should get to know me, and I know you." She mumbled, walking to a nearby tree and laid down at the base. Her head up, facing the genin, her back legs stretched out to her right and her front paws stretched out in front of her.

Kakashi followed her lead and walked over to the tree, leaning on it to her left. He crossed his arms over his chest, and propped his left leg up on the tree.

The three genin came over and sat down on the rocks in front of them, about three to four meters away.

Once everyone settled, Rai began to speak. "Well, let's start off with your name, what you like, what you don't like, your future dream, and three questions you want to know about me." Rai stated, her eyes never wavered from the group; it was kind of eerie and uncomfortable. Rai's eyes locked with Naruto's.

Naruto jumped a bit.

"Let's start with you." Her voice seemed threatening, and yet it remained monotone.

Naruto slouched forwards and scratched his head. "Wait a minute this seems familiar…"

Rai let the left corner of her mouth pull up in a lopsided smile, "Possibly." She crossed her front paws as she smiled.

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed. "I remember! When we first met Kakashi sensei!"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto stated. "Well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto." He stated confidently, "I like to eat ramen. But, I don't like the wait. And my future dream is to become the Hokage, and the greatest one at that!" Naruto paused in thought, crossing his arms and looking down. "And…" He pondered. "And, do you like ramen?" He finally asked, looking up.

Rai waited for ten seconds before vocalizing anything. "Hmm…" Rai paused again. "I don't eat that often, so I probably rarely had it, or probably none at all. . ." Rai answered his question in an uncertainty. "So, I don't know." She shrugged, "Any other questions?"

"Not at the moment…" Naruto sulked.

Rai nodded and looked to the girl sitting to his right.

"I am Haruno Sakura." Sakura greeted, bowing her head slightly.

Rai nodded back to her.

"I like flowers, hanging with my friends, training, and-." She trailed off looking to her right at the black haired boy. She smiled widely, blushing. "I don't like being looked down upon, or being picked on either." She stated. "And my dream is-." She trailed off again, looking at the boy to her right again. She smiled widely again and blushed.

'Pathetic.' Rai thought. 'At that age I would have been more concerned about my life rather than my love interest.' Rai thought in disgust.

"And…" Sakura put a finger to her chin. "What is your favorite color?"

Rai thought for a moment, "Hmm, well, I like the color blue, but I love black. So, black."

Suddenly, Naruto jumped up. "Wait! Aren't you color blind!?"

"No." Rai stated simply. "I'm not."

Naruto didn't believe it, so he tested her. He pointed to his konoha. "What's this color then?"

"Blue and silver." Rai responded, her fur slightly bristling.

Naruto then pointed to his jacket. "What's this color?"

"Orange." Rai said. She was getting annoyed, her voice had a hint of annoyance in it, and her fur was fully bristled.

"What's this color?" Naruto pointed to the grass.

"Green. . ." Rai growled.

"What's this-?" Naruto went to point to Sakura's kimono.

"Naruto!" Rai's harsh voice snapped. She stood up briskly, her jaws snapping together, creating a metal like clap. She growled, nastily. "Sit down!"

The group went dead silent, and if they were alive, they would have wet themselves.

Naruto just let his knees buckle underneath him and he sat down in that spot, like the obedient student he was.

Rai relaxed, "Sorry about that Sakura," She stated. She lay back down. "Alright, anything else?"

Sakura's voice quivered a bit, "Umm…"

Rai closed her eyes and chuckled a bit, "I didn't mean to scare you." She looked back at the girl.

"Uh… well, since you're going to tell us about your future dream, I'll ask you…" Sakura looked up in thought, placing a finger to her chin again. "What, or who, is the most important to you?"

Rai snapped open her eyes, not expecting such a question. She raised her head to look at Sakura. "Uh…" She was stunned by the question. "Well…" The shock started to wear off. "My… friends, of course, and my sisters, and brothers, and mother."

"There is more of you?!" Naruto finally found his voice again.

Rai glared at Naruto. "Are, Naruto. Are." She corrected his grammar. "They're technically not my family, not related, though." Rai stated as she stretched her front and back legs. "I don't have any blood related relatives. They're all dead." She stated, simply.

"Oh." Sakura's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, how horrible." She said.

Rai then rolled over onto her back and rubbed it on the soft grass. "It's alright, really." She assured Sakura. "You get used to it." She then rolled back over on her stomach and looked at Kakashi. "The only one I have left is Kakashi." She gave him her doggy smile.

He glanced at her and smiled to her.

"You two are related?" Naruto asked, dumb founded.

"No…" Rai said, happily. "Just good friends." She gave a small smile to the genin.

The three genin stared blankly at them.

"Do you have any other questions?" Rai asked Sakura.

Sakura blinked and then shook her head. "Oh," She exclaimed, "I forgot." Sakura thought, again. "Ya know, I had one but it eluded me, sorry." Sakura apologized and scratched the back of her neck.

"It's alright, it happens." Rai assured. She locked eyes with the black haired boy. "And last, but not least."

His black eyes seemed cold and heartless, glaring at the world, hating everything.

Rai's eyes dared his to glare at her, it taunted him, 'Just try it, I dare you.'

The only reaction out of the boy was his brow knitting together quickly.

Rai smiled to herself. At least she got a reaction.

Sasuke silently recomposed himself before speaking. "Uchiha Sasuke." He muttered. His hands were in front of his mouth, so it was hard to hear him. "I don't like anything, I dislike many things, and my future dream… is to kill the one who slaughtered my clan." His glaring eyes full of hatred bore into Rai's brown eyes as they stared each other down. "And my question will be, what is your darkest desire?"

Rai looked into his eyes, a sight she was used to when someone would look at her, and yet she didn't even flinch. "Hmm… My darkest desire, eh?" Rai repeated, sitting up on her haunches, her back slightly hunched. "I have several." Rai stated. "One is to be rid of my father. Two, to be respected, wanted, trusted, and yearned for. And third…" Her brown eyes darkened, full of hate. She looked at Sasuke through lowered eyes.

Sasuke had a shudder run through his spine, yet he didn't show it, still glaring back at the wolf.

"To destroy the village I once called 'Home.' Who killed my mother, who shamed my family, who tried to kill me, who put this terrible curse on me for what I am and not who. To kill them as they did my mother." Her voice had raised in intensity, then it lowered. "To keep them in their rightful place."

The three genin were speechless.

Rai closed her eyes, then opened them again, her eyes had returned back to their normal brown. "But, besides that… I guess my desires are pretty normal."

Sakura shuddered, hugging herself.

Naruto gulped.

Sasuke just sat there, amazed.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"How old were you when you killed your first victim?" Sasuke asked, still on dark topics.

Rai stood up, she looked over at Kakashi for help. "I honestly don't remember." She replied, "Do you?" she asked Kakashi.

Kakashi glanced at her then looked up to the sky, scratching his head. "I think you were about 6?" He questioned.

"Wow!" The genin gaped.

"That young!?" Sakura asked, leaning forward.

"Nah…" Rai shook her head, "I wasn't that young." Rai paused for a bit, looking back to the genin. "I believe I was 7 or 8…" She replied.

"That's young…" Sakura stated.

After some silence, Sasuke stated, "Next question."

Rai was all ears and looked to Sasuke.

"What areas do you think you excel in?" He asked.

Rai closed her eyes, tilting her nose down, and chuckling a bit. "My, my. Such questions, young man." She stopped chuckling, her face straight. "I believe you see me," she opened her eyes to glare at him, "as a threat."

Sasuke glared back.

Rai smirked, and said in a monotone voice, "I consider myself pretty good in taijutsu, agility, and weaponry." Rai responded. "I can also think on my feet, pretty well." She sighed and looked up at Kakashi.

He just nodded.

"Well, that's everyone…"

"Well, I'm Hatake Kakashi and I-." Kakashi began but was interrupted by Rai.

"I already know you!" She stated, as she took her back left leg and kicked him in the leg.

"Heh, heh." Kakashi chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

Rai rolled her eyes and sighed.

The three genin waited patiently as the two bickered, somewhat interested in what they were saying.

"You're an idiot." Rai stated to Kakashi.

"Yeah." He replied, standing up from the tree, placing his hands in his pockets and turning slightly to Rai. "But, I'm your idiot."

Rai's jaw dropped open slightly, she picked up her left paw and made a sound like she was hurt. "Well…" She then scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out at him.

"You know," Kakashi stated. "That little tongue of yours is going to get you into a lot of trouble."

Rai pulled her tongue back in, her nose still scrunched.

"Ahem!" Naruto coughed.

The two bickering looked at Naruto.

"You going to tell us about you or not?" Naruto stated.

"Alright." Rai sighed. She turned her head forward to face the genin and sat down. "Okay." She then laid down, crossing her paws in front of her. "Well, as you already know, my name is Rai." She stated. "I like peace and quiet, and to be around my friend." She paused a bit and then continued. "I do not tolerate idiocy, stupid remarks, and when people harass me, make fun of me, or talk ill of me." Her voice had taken on a strict tone. She looked up to the sky, her voice taking on a softer tone. "For my future dream…" She was in a slight daze. "Is to settle down with someone I love, and who loves and respects me, have a decent family, and live my life out, at its fullest."

Sakura smiled and clasped her hands together. "Oh, that sounds like an amazing dream. I bet that will definitely come true for you. You have so many people that love you."

Rai cocked her head to the side. "What makes you say that?"

"Well," Sakura said, "We know several people that believe you're amazing! And of course, you're going to stick around with us for a while, and we already know what you're like, and you have a loving and caring family."

Rai has never heard so many things about her and how many people actually care about her.

"Alright." Kakashi sighed, standing up again, snapping Rai out of her daze.

She looked at him.

"Enough, chit chat. Time for training." He stated.

Rai stood up.

"Huh?" The three genin questioned.

Kakashi reached into his back pouch and pulled out three bells.

The genin groaned; Naruto fell backwards.

"I guess you do remember this… Well this time it's going to be different." Kakashi stated as he knelt down and tied them around Rai's neck.

The three looked confused.

"This time…" Kakashi placed his right hand on Rai's head, still kneeling by her side.

Rai began to pant, happily.

"There are new rules." He stated.

"Huh?" Naruto asked as he sat up. "What do you mean new rules? It's just a change of hands." He said as if it was no big deal, but it was.

"Well," Rai stated. "We'll be focusing on your taijutsu. So, no nin or genjutsu. If you do, there will be serious consequences." Rai stated, starting to turn around.

"What?"Sakura asked. "Wait! What do you mean?"

Kakashi whipped out his book. "In other words…"

Rai took off into the woods.

"Go chase Rai around for a few hours." Kakashi stated.

The genin looked at each other, shrugged, stood up and took off after Rai.


	15. Cat and Wolf

The three genin took off after the fleeing grey wolf.

It was easy to find and catch up to her, or so they thought.

She was at a steady three beat gait, and they were still slowly gaining on her.

"We got you now!" Naruto shouted out after jumping off a sturdy tree limb.

"Naruto!" Sakura and Sasuke glared at the orange clad ninja who had just given them away.

He was in a bad position; he was right between the two, so he got daggers from both sides and could be hit from any side at any moment. "Oops." He squeaked.

Rai turned her head, her three beat gait steady. Her blank expression turned into a small smile, she turned her head back around to look where she was going. 'Well, that wasn't very long.' She thought to herself. 'They could still use work on finding their target a lot sooner than that, though. And they could learn a lesson or two on keeping quiet when pursuing a target.' Rai made a mental note of that.

The genin jumped from tree to tree in pursuit. They were trying to gain more ground.

Sasuke suddenly took a giant leap forward, pulled out several shuriken and readied them. He glared, steadily aiming the stars slightly ahead of Rai. His muscles tensed. He threw them.

Rai's ears flicked back for a quick second then forward again. She made a sharp swerve to her right, than straightened out again.

The shuriken had just barely missed her!

Sasuke grunted in frustration.

Rai looked back at the frustrated genin. She called out, "You're going to have to do better than that if you're going to catch me!" She teased. She turned her nose forward, breaking into a full out sprint and disappeared into the woods.

The three genin stopped their pursuit, panting, sweating, and jaws dropped. Their backs were slouched forward and their eyes twitched ever so slightly.

Rai sprinted until she came to the same clearing where she had taken off. She came to a halt in the dead center of the field. Her head was up, ears perked forward, her tail was up, and her sensitive nose smelling the slightest changes in the air. Her brown eyes scanned with every slight jerk of her head from side to side.

"Awe, come now Rai."

Rai's head snapped to a tree that was diagonal to her right. She looked at the base than quickly snapped her head up to the lowest branch. And to her 'surprise', concealed by the shadows of the leaves of the tree, sat Kakashi, leaning against the trunk, reading his dirty old book.

"Take it easy on them. They're just genin." Kakashi stated, flipping a page.

"Tuh, I know." Rai stated, her ears and head turning every which way. "But, I just want to see how much more training they need." She stated then turned to look behind her, where she had just come from. "And…. It looks like they need a lot…" She drawled then sighed.

"Just take it easy." Kakashi stated, looking back to his book. "And don't kill my students." He warned.

"Alright…" Rai sighed. She then took off in a steady canter in the opposite direction in which she was looking.

Kakashi sighed, turning back to his book.

Soon, rustling could be heard, very faintly.

"Oh boy…" He sighed, "Sasuke…" He muttered to himself.

And low and behold, Sasuke came running out of the woods. He stopped dead center, looked around the area, then glared in the general direction Rai had taken off in, and sprinted off in that direction, but a little off course.

Once he disappeared, more rustling.

"Sakura…"

"Sasuke! Wait up!" She yelled, as she came to the clearing. She looked around, stopping in the center, deciding on which way to go. She then decided on a path that went way behind Kakashi's back. "Sasuke!?" She shouted as she disappeared into the woods.

Kakashi sighed, "and last but not least, Naruto…"

And, just then, Naruto came bolting out of the woods, covered in leaves and bits of twig. "Sasuke! Sakura! Wait up!" He had stopped right on the edge of the woods opposite of Kakashi.

Had they even noticed him? They could have used him and asked him which way she went, he was a source after all.

Naruto's face drew up that same blank, I don't get it expression. He looked around frantically, then took off way in right field of the ball park, in other words, way far to the right, near the pond.

Once the knuckle-head was out of sight and sound, Kakashi sighed and shook his sweat dropped head. 'Rai was right, they do need more training.' He thought. He sighed, turning back to his book. "Oh well."

Rai had found a way to outsmart the genin. She had made several trails that lead to random spots.

And as the genin ran, supposedly 'chasing' Rai on the correct path, they grew further and further apart.

Naruto, however, had managed to stumble onto the correct path, by accident of course, which led after Rai.

As he got closer, he could hear the faint jingling of the three bells. He silently moved in on his target. He finally spotted Rai.

She was stumped, standing there, looking in every direction, trying to figure out which way to go. Her ears flicking to the faintest sound.

Naruto tried to keep as silent as he could. He crouched down and got down on his stomach. He began to do the army crawl to a nearby bush, where he could be camouflaged and get a better view. He was so quiet, he moved his right elbow forward and hit something, making the thing take off.

The thing he frightened took off, making a lot of noise.

This surely got Rai's attention, because her head snapped to the frightened animal's escape trail and to where Naruto was. Her head was up, eyes looking, ears scanning for anything.

Naruto was blinded as the sun reflected off her konoha. He closed his eyes.

Rai's nose picked up the familiar scent as the wind shifted slightly. She then began to slowly turn, then she bolted.

Naruto opened his eyes and saw her fleeing, with spots floating around where she once was. So, he got up and chased after her, faster than he had ever ran in his life.

"Argh!" Naruto groaned. His effort wasn't enough, she was getting away. He then pulled his hands together and made multiple hands signs for "Kage bo-"

Rai heard him, turned one hundred and eighty degrees on her heels, literally, on a dime and lunged at the unsuspecting genin. She snarled and pounced on him, making him fall on his back, wide eyed and scared.

"I told you," she snarled through clenched teeth and a raised lip, "No nin or genjustus!" She then bolted off in the direction that she was headed in before she lunged at Naruto.

Sasuke crouched down in a bush by the side of the path. He had set up a little hunter's trap, camouflaging it perfectly. He heard the silent tingle of bells as Rai was walking this way.

When Rai came into his view, he began to hold his breath and let it out and in slowly. He could just see her paws and nose under the foliage of the bush. She'd smell the trap for sure!

Sasuke gritted his teeth, he knew he should have done something else.

Rai came closer to the trap, only two steps away. Her nose skimmed over the top of the trap. She lifted her left paw to take another step and went to set it down where the trap was placed and well hidden.

Suddenly, a noisy squirrel caught her ear. Rai's head snapped to the squirrel and she moved her left paw back, placing it next to her right.

Sasuke inwardly cursed the squirrel.

Rai's eyes scanned the squirrel and the area where the squirrel was, her ears tracking the faintest of sounds like satellites.

Once the squirrel scampered away, Rai turned her head, making it level with her shoulders and began to walk again. She picked up her left leg again and almost placed it in the trap. She was about to set it down when she moved it further forward, out of the trap's clutches. She then skipped her hind legs over it.

Sasuke sat there, mouth a gape and eyes wide. He could not believe it. He had covered up his tracks as best as he could, he even tried to get another scent in there. He even hid the trap exceptionally well!

But she, a mere wolf, saw it coming!

Sasuke gritted his teeth and glared where Rai had left. He had to do better than his best.

For, this was no ordinary wolf.

Sakura had been walking around for some time now. She jerked her head back and forth, searching. Her hands clamped together at her chest. She had looked in trees, ducked down to search under bushes. She had stood up from looking under a bush when something caught her eye.

Stretching across the path was a string of wire, only visible to the eye due to the sun's rays hitting it.

Sakura stopped, she scanned the area quickly, making sure there were no other traps. She didn't see any. She smiled, she out smarted the cunning wolf. She lightly stepped over the wire and lightly treaded away. She had to be careful, if there was one trap, there had to be others. She became very cautious and had to watch her step. She found herself tiptoeing out of the wire's range.

Once satisfied that she was out of the way of the wire, she sighed. She began to walk a normal pace.

The ground below her let out a low rumble. It began to shift slightly. Suddenly, it disappeared.

Sakura glanced down. "Awe man." She sighed. She fell. She screamed. She then landed at the base of the hole, hard on her rump.

Rai couldn't help but chuckle as she heard Sakura scream. She just had to see this. She came cantering over to her work.

Sakura rubbed her sore bottom. She groaned. She then looked up. "Wow, that's a big hole." She stated after getting up. She wobbled a bit, an affect from the fall. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Hello? Anyone there? Sasuke? Kakashi sensei? Naruto?" Sakura stopped, her hands dropping to her sides, 'Oh great! Now I'm calling for Naruto!' She mentally scolded herself.

Some dirt fell from the top of the hole. It was Rai, peering over the edge.

"Rai-sama! Thank goodness!" Sakura shouted with relief.

Rai gave Sakura her doggy smile and leapt over the hole.

Sakura was left speechless; she had forgotten they were chasing her. Sakura then had an epiphany. She began to focus her chakra into her feet, placed them on the wall, and began to ascend the wall. As she worked her way up the wall, her feet began to sink into the dirt. She tried to use less and less chakra as she kept climbing closer to the top, she almost had to use no chakra; that's when she fell. She fell back down to where she began, square one. "AH! Oof!" She landed on her back, the wind knocked out of her. She groaned and sat up, gasping for air, but it was too hard to breathe, and very painful too.

As she regained her breath, she took out her kunai and threw it at the wall in frustration. Then, her eyes lit up. That's it! She used the kunai as picks to burry themselves in the soil and hoist herself up and out of the hole. She walked over to the wall and pulled it out with ease, except the soil around it crumbled.

Rai did this on purpose; she dug it here for this reason.

Now Sakura couldn't get out. She only thought of the only thing acceptable, to scream.

Kakashi glanced up from his book. He sighed. "I tell Rai to go easy and she gives Sakura a heart attack."

Sasuke turned to the sound, listening. He took off to the sound.

Naruto turned too. "Sakura?" He muttered, then took off in the direction of the scream.

Rai's ears flicked to the sound. Suddenly, a bush began to rustle. She bolted into a nearby bush for cover; head down on the ground making sure the bells had no sound.

Sasuke was running past her. He skidded to a halt right in front of her. He was scanning the area.

Rai held her breath. Her form was statue still, barely breathing.

He stayed there, silent and still, searching with his ears and eyes.

Just then did Sakura's scream reach their ears, again.

This caused him to drop his search and bolt off towards the sound.

Rai sighed. She then crawled out from under the bush in which she hid. She shook her body, ridding her grey fur of excess leaves and twigs.

"I told you to go easy on them." Came Kakashi's voice.

Rai's head snapped to her rear, her form tense and ready to bolt.

Sitting crouched in a tree was Kakashi. He was watching this whole time.

"How long have you been there?" Rai asked as she relaxed her body. She shook her head, "Never mind." She then looked back up to him. "Your definition of easy and my definition are two separate things." She stated.

"And that is?" Kakashi drawled as he placed his chin in his hand.

"Something done without effort." Rai simply stated.

"Ah…" Kakashi slightly nodded his head.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" Rai stated as she turned in the opposite direction. "I have some genin that need some serious training." Rai took off.

"Oh boy…" Kakashi sighed and massaged his temples with the hand that recently held his head.


	16. Teamwork

Midday grew to late evening. The sun was setting just beyond the mountains, when the three genin came running out of the woods to the same clearing for the tenth time.

"Hold it!" Sasuke shouted as he skidded to a halt. He spread his arms behind him to stop Naruto and Sakura. They were all trying to catch their breath. Their mouths open and sweat dripping down their faces.

"What is it?" Sakura huffed. "What's wrong?"

Sasuke scanned the area, as if seeing it in a different light. "Didn't we pass this place before?" He questioned.

Naruto craned his neck around examining the place. "It does feel vaguely familiar…" Naruto stated after a bit of silence.

The three looked around the clearing for a bit, noting the details and slight similarities to the recent clearings. They noted the small lake, the large boulders, the small ditch Sakura had tripped in almost twice, and-… wait a minute…

"WE'VE BEEN GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura dropped to her knees and sighed. "Oh, I knew it was too good to be true." She began to rub her legs, not being able to feel them.

Sasuke muttered a swear as he collapsed onto his butt. Naruto just let his knees buckle; he didn't care where he landed, so he wound up landing on his face. They let out a groan in unison.

Suddenly, Rai walked out of the woods, across from where the genin were.

The three genin looked up and just stared at her, not knowing what to do.

Rai froze, staring at them, like a deer caught in the head lights.

They stayed there, staring at each other, waiting for someone to make a move.

Sasuke muttered, "On my mark," Sasuke braced himself mentally. "We all sprint towards her and trap her."

Rai stood absolutely still, ears up, listening to the soft conversation.

"1…." They began to mentally brace themselves for the dash. "2…" Their muscles began to tense and cry out in pain at the thought of being used again. "3!" They bolted.

Rai turned tail and took off.

"Yeah! We got her now!" Naruto shouted.

The chase began again. They began to run out of breath around the second time around, and by the third time, they completely collapsed in the field. However, Rai was still going strong. They trudged along, dragging their feet until their legs gave out from underneath them in the field. Their legs felt sore and heavy, almost like rubber.

Rai sat at the edge of the forest slightly amused by this. She sighed and shook her head. "We have a lot of work to do."

Kakashi, who was sitting in the tree above Rai, jumped down behind her. Leaves fell from the tree as he brushed past them. He landed in a crouch position then slowly stood up. "I told you to go easy on them." He stated.

Rai looked up at him. "I just ran." Rai stated. She turned her head away to look at the genin and mumbled, "and set a few traps…"

"You… did… what?" Kakashi whispered harshly.

"I just set a few harmless traps, a ditch or two." Rai stated. "Look…" She looked back up at him. "They just wore themselves out. There's no blood, nobody's dying!"

Kakashi gave Rai a mocking glance.

"Jeez! You're acting like I killed them or was going to!" Rai stated, hurt. They turned to watch the genin struggle to sit up.

Sasuke even tried to stand, but wound up wobbling and falling back over. He landed on his butt, one knee up in the air, and his hands behind him, bracing him. Sakura tried to stand, but had her knees buckle when she tried to move. She fell to her knees. Naruto was the worst. He tried to stand and immediately fell over. He tried everything from putting his arms out to help maintain his balance to slowly pushing up from the ground. He finally gave up when he landed on his face for the fifth time. They all let out a heavy group sigh.

Rai stood up and walked out to them.

The genin just rubbed their legs and stared at her as she approached. Once she was within about two meters of the group, she stopped square. She tucked her chin into her konoha, hooking her teeth onto the string of the bells, and in one swift movement, jerked the bells off her neck. The bells rang out as they flew around, dangling from her lower canine. She lowered her nose to the ground and dropped the bells onto the ground. She lifted her head and sat down, staring at the tiring genin. The genin stared back at her without a clue.

"That's it for today." Rai stated, breaking the silence.

The genin sighed in relief. She was one tough trainer.

"Finally," Naruto sighed and grunted. "I was wondering when we'd get a break."

"That was too hard." Sakura commented.

"It was just running." Rai stated; she was getting a little bit of a temper in her voice. "All you had to do was track. Take a few seconds to look at the ground, you would have noticed we were going in circles, so you could catch me, but you just kept chasing me mindlessly! Like a duckling after its mother!" Rai scolded. The genin were a little shocked. Naruto hit his head. It was so simple! "You guys already learned to work as a team, but you need to think and fight as one." She scanned back and forth between the genin. "Sakura…" She looked at Sakura. "You possess the brains of the group. Naruto…" She looked at Naruto. "You possess the confidence and will power. Sasuke…" She looked at Sasuke. "You're the fighter. Use that to your advantage. Cover up each other's weaknesses and back off with each other's strengths." The genin looked at her in amazement. "You can also help each other strengthen their weaknesses, so if faced with it, you can succeed."

The genin let her words soak in. It was true. She was the other link to one of the greatest konoha tag team, so that is how they succeeded in so many battles. They helped each other out, worked together, as a team, as one.

Naruto nodded, pretending to get it. Sasuke grunted. Sakura smiled.

"Now, can I trust you to work as a team to get the bells?" Rai asked the daunting question.

The genin looked at one another. They began to talk among themselves, trying to figure out what to do.

"What should we do? We can barely stand." Sakura muttered.

"Perhaps we can support each other." Sasuke stated. "Use each other to balance before we fall over."

"How are we going to do that?" Naruto asked.

"Use your head." Sasuke stated as he began to stand up.

Sakura took several seconds to get it. "Oh!"

Once Sasuke was up and balanced, he began to shuffle his way towards Rai. He began to lose his balance and wound up bracing a hand on Naruto's head. He regained his balance and shuffled a little further until he fell over near Rai. Sakura followed after, and then Naruto, only he had to somewhat crawl.

Sasuke went to reach for the bells when Rai's paw stepped on the strings. Sasuke looked up as she pulled the bells out of reach with her giant paw.

"Hey! What was that for!?" Naruto griped.

Rai just slyly smiled. "You aren't working as a team."

"Yeah! We were!" Naruto stated.

"You WERE." Rai emphasized. "But are you still?"

Naruto blinked. "Just grab the bells, Naruto!" Sakura whispered harshly. Naruto and Sakura both reached for the bells, along with Sasuke. Rai's foot was still on the bells, holding them captive. The genin thought that she might yank them away just when they're about to touch them and take off with them. She had to be teasing them, in the weak state they are in.

Just then, the three felt the cool touch of metal. They touched the bells. They couldn't believe it. They just couldn't believe it was this easy. They each grabbed a bell and held it up by its string. They each stared at the bells in disbelief, their mouths slightly a gape.

Naruto jumped up and punched the air with the fist holding the bell in it. "Alright!" He then fell backwards. The other two sighed.

'Where does he get that energy from? He can't be human.' Sakura thought as she chuckled at his stupidity.

Rai stood up during all the commotion and began to walk away, Kakashi tagging along behind her.

Sakura, just then, remembered the question. "Oh! Rai-sama!" She called after them. "I remember the question I was going to ask you."

Rai stopped and turned her head to look at Sakura and the others. Kakashi walked ahead about a meter before stopping and turning around, hands in his pockets as usual.

"Could you change into a human for us?" She asked.

Rai's head jerked slightly with surprise. She stared at her for a bit, before chuckling nervously. "Not now…" Rai muttered, loud enough for her to hear it. The genin looked disappointed. "Maybe some other time, when I am more comfortable with you guys." She stated, then turned her head forward and began to walk away, Kakashi too.

Sakura slumped over slightly in disappointment. They groaned. The three tried to get up again, now that their legs felt better, and not like rubber with no bones. They, wobbly, made their way back to their homes. They each hung the bell up in their room. The three collapsed on their beds, sighing as sleep washed over them.

Rai sat on the top of a building, solemnly watching as the three genin fell asleep, as her grey fur tossed slightly in the breeze.

"Looks like you wiped them out." Kakashi stated as he landed silently on the roof next to Rai. He stood up.

"It seems so." Rai sighed. Kakashi walked over beside her. "They're going to need more attention and training." Rai stated, looking up at her comrade.

All Kakashi did was reach down with his right hand and rubbed the back of Rai's neck, ruffling the fur then flattening it out.

"Hey," Kakashi stated, "don't worry, we can do it together." And with that he patted Rai on the head as reassurance.

Rai sighed, "Yeah…" letting her ears go limp and a little slack in her neck. "Just like old times, eh?"

"Yeah…" Kakashi sighed, placing his hands in his pockets. "Exactly, like old times." After that, they both went silent, watching the sleeping genin.


	17. So Much For Training

Over the next week, Rai and Kakashi were pushing the three genin to their fullest. Every time they came home sore and aching, and once they hit their beds, they were out like lights. They slept for about ten hours each night. They could barely get out of bed one day: painfully pulled themselves out of bed, slowly got themselves dressed, and drug themselves to the training grounds.

They found Kakashi sitting at a base of a tree, reading his book. Odd, usually he waits for nobody. So, if Kakashi was there, that must mean Rai was around too.

Naruto yawned, "What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto rubbed his eyes. He approached where his sensei was.

Sakura followed, and then collapsed to the ground. "I'm so tired and sore." She complained. "Can we go back to bed now?" She yawned and closed her eyes starting to nod off.

Sasuke leaned up against a tree to get the weight off his feet.

"No." Kakashi stated. "But, you can rest until Rai gets here."

Naruto looked slightly confused. "Isn't Rai-sama here already?" He asked after he took a grateful seat.

"No, why do you think I'm sitting here?" Kakashi replied, flipping a page.

Sasuke slid down the tree to take a seat. The group sighed in relief.

It was about fifteen minutes until movement stirred the group. The bushes, on the opposite side of the field from Kakashi, began to come alive. Kakashi looked up and put his book away. The genin groaned, they didn't want to get up, but they did. Just as they stood up, a light grey wolf came bolting out of the bushes, heading straight for Kakashi. The wolf didn't stop and look at the genin, it just made a dash for Kakashi, as if it didn't want to be out in the sun. The wolf stopped in front of Kakashi.

"Is that Rai-sama?" Naruto asked the group.

Sakura studied the wolf, "I don't think so." Sakura shaded her eyes and squinted at the wolf. "It looks… smaller and doesn't seem to have a konoha…" Sakura stated slowly.

"Oh!" Kakashi stated in surprise. "Hello." The wolf looked at Kakashi, then to the genin, then back at Kakashi.

The genin stood there, starting to get worried when they heard Kakashi talking to the wolf. They heard little whimpers and yips from the wolf, but Kakashi, on the other hand, was speaking human. The genin could easily understand him, but when the wolf would speak, they hadn't a clue, and got lost in the conversation.

Kakashi nodded, "Ah, I see." Kakashi curled his finger around his chin, thinking. "Alright." Kakashi straightened up and placed both hands into his pockets. The wolf took off, the same way it came. Kakashi just watched as the wolf fled.

The genin looked questioningly at each other.

Kakashi sighed, "Well, looks like you guys are getting your day off." He turned towards the genin.

"But," Naruto questioned, "wasn't that Rai-sama?"

Kakashi took a second, then chuckled a bit, "Hell no." He laughed a bit. He then took a deep breath. "That was Chi."

"Chi… Who?" Naruto drawled, seeing if it would ring a bell of any sort, to no avail.

"Rai's sister…" Kakashi stopped then thought about what he said. "Uh, part of her adopted family." Kakashi corrected himself.

"Oh…" Sakura and Naruto said together.

"So… Then…" Naruto asked, "Where is she?" He wanted to know the dying question on everyone's minds.

"Hm? Rai?" Kakashi questioned, his mind wondering off.

Naruto crossed his arms in irritation, "No, I ment Chi- OF COURSE RAI!" Naruto shouted. "Who else would I be talking about!?" He flailed his arms in the air.

"She's scouting." Kakashi shrugged, looking off into the mountains.

"She…What?" Sakura asked.

"She's patrolling the territory, making sure no Nikkei enter." Kakashi simply stated.

Sakura had a confused look on her face. "The… Ni… kkei…?" She questioned as she tried to sound it out.

Kakashi sighed, his shoulders dropping slightly. "The Nikkei is a clan of demonic wolves. They are slightly smaller than the Okami, their stocky, have black fur, and a very nasty attitude." Kakashi explained to the genin. "They live just beyond the mountains, in a rocky, mountainous country. They have killed many villages, slaughtered for their own fun and enjoyment." Kakashi looked sternly at the genin. "Let's just say, Rai's in a dangerous place right now…"

A grey, rocky mountain side was patched with mist, or clouds, she didn't know which. The thin ten-inch path was winding up the mountains. Rai panted as she ran along the crumbling path. She suddenly felt her nose tickle, she stopped and let out a quick and quiet sneeze. She shook her body and continued on her run. Occasionally, as she ran, her large paws kicked up a pebble or something. She gripped the ever-narrowing ledge with her claws.

She ran over caves, dips, and crevices. Then, a seven-meter gorge appeared around a corner. Rai's eyes went wide and she stiffened her legs, almost sitting, to break. She skidded to a stop, her body slightly jerked forward at the sudden stop. Her nose went over the edge, giving her a pleasant view of the gorge. She couldn't see the bottom, for she was too high up, and clouds concealed the jagged, knifelike rows of rocks, protruding out of the floor.

A pebble slowly rolled its way to the edge and plummeted down to the canyon bottom. Rai watched it with her eyes. It plopped through the clouds and continued its journey down. Rai waited, and waited, until she heard the faintest sound of it bouncing off something, then hitting something else, and so on until it stopped.

Her head snapped up to look at the other side of the gap. She backed up a couple meters, stopped, then examined the gap again. She backed up another couple meters. She waited, pausing for the right moment. Rai took off in a dead run at the gorge, several powerful strides. Once her front paws hit the edge, she planted her claws in, waiting for her powerful back legs to catch up. They bunched up, planting themselves on the very edge. She retracted her claws and, like springs, they pushed her off the ledge. They pushed and stretched, propelling her into the air above the gorge.

As she got closer to the other edge, she extended her front paws, reaching for the ledge. She landed gracefully, and without a sound or disturbance of the soil. Her front paws touching, then back, she took off once her feet hit solid ground.

As she disappeared into the cloudy mist, the rock edge began to crumble. It rumbled, cracking and splitting, peeling away from the side of the mountain and falling to its final resting place, adding to the jagged bottom of the gorge.


	18. A Thorn In Your Side

Rai was three fourths of the way done. She was just about out of Nikkei country. Her lungs began to get sore as the crisp mountain air began to pierce her windpipe. She was feeling slow and heavy. She was almost out of Nikkei country, so she was sprinting the rest of the way. The cliff edge was getting narrower and narrower with every ten of meters. The cliffs' face itself was a good, almost ninety-degree angle down to the ground.

Rai was so focused on getting out; she wasn't paying any attention to the crumbling cliff. With her left foot in the lead, she took several more strides, when her left foot hit a soft patch of rock and crumbled out from underneath her. She yelped as her left side suddenly sank and pulled her body along with it.

She fell, tumbling and crashing, into jagged rocks. She tumbled a good thirty meters before the slant gradually became a forty-five angle. As she landed, you could hear bones cracking and flesh ripping from her body. She was tossed around like a rag doll. She was thrown into the forest, cushioned by soft, green grass. She soon tumbled to a stop.

She was on her stomach, sprawled out. She was in terrible shape nobody could survive that fall. Some bones were protruding out of her fur, her legs bent at odd points, blood seeped out darkening her beautiful fur, and ribs punctured her lungs and other vital organs. She looked dead.

Rai opened her eyes; they were dull and almost lifeless. Her vision blurry, but she could tell she wasn't on the mountain side. She closed her eyes again, allowing her demonic blood to mend her. Her flesh stretched over the wounds, covering and stopping the blood flow. Her bones began to crack back into place, mending themselves and muscle too. Her ribs were first, replacing and mending themselves back into their place, while her organs healed the gashes left from the bones. Her back began to bend itself back into place, even though it wasn't broken, it made weird popping noises. Her legs and head were next, her jaw popped back into place. Her limbs moved, cracked and popped back into place. Once she felt that everything was all back in place, she moved her back legs under her and pushed her front legs up, making her sit up. She groaned, her muscles were still mending themselves. The nasty gash on the side of her face began to shrink into nothing.

Rai opened her eyes. She sighed as she began to stand up. She winced, pain shot through her left front leg. She cringed. There's only so much demon blood can do. She sighed, stoop up, and walked home, limping.

The genin sat there fascinated.

"How many other clans are there?" Sakura asked. She just loved to learn.

"I don't know." Kakashi shrugged. He honestly didn't know. So he took a guess, "Hundreds."

The genin's mouths dropped open and even made 'awe' sounds. There are that many?

Kakashi decided to clear things up, "I only know of five." Kakashi began to count them off his fingers. "Okami, Nikkei, Aiota, Kanji, and Neko."

The genin looked at each other in confusion, then back at their sensei.

"They're wolf clans…" Kakashi verified for them.

"Oh…" The genin said, as they were informed.

Kakashi stood up from the tree and began to walk off, out of the training grounds and into the forest.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked as they watched him leave.

"I feel like going for a little walk." Kakashi stated as he stopped, looking up at the scarcely covered sky. "Anyone care to join me?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Nah, I'm alright." Naruto said, turning around and crossing his arms, not wanting to look interested.

"Who knows, there might be a fight." Kakashi teased over his shoulder as he continued to walk.

Naruto perked up to that. He jumped up, grabbing Sakura and Sasuke and took off. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Naruto shouted. "Let's go!"

"Naruto!" Sakura and Sasuke shouted.

Kakashi just chuckled and nonchalantly walked after them.

Naruto finally slowed down a food kilometer or so ahead of Kakashi. Naruto was out of breath. He finally let go of Sasuke and Sakura, bent over, hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"You…" Sasuke panted. "Idiot!" Sasuke tried to catch his breath.

"Naru…" Sakura gasped. "to!" She balled her fist like she was going to hit him.

Naruto winced, preparing for impact.

They heard rustling. They looked over to their right and saw something moving, something grey, behind the bushes. Then, a wolf came into view, with a konoha around its neck!

"Hey, look!" Sakura whispered, she was still panting a bit from the run. "It's Rai-sama." She pointed to the wolf.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, jumping into the air. "Rai-sama!"

"Ssh!" Sakura shushed him.

"Naruto!" Sasuke warned and clamped his hand over the knuckle head's mouth. 'Where does he get this extra energy from?' He questioned himself. "You dork!"

Rai didn't even glance, not even an ear twitch. She just walked right on by. She knew they were there, but didn't want to confront them in the condition she was in. She didn't want to deal with anybody right now, she was too irritable.

The two boys looked at her questioningly. Why hadn't she done anything to let them know she knew they were there?

"Poor Rai-sama…" Sakura sighed with concern. She clutched her hand to her chest.

"Huh?" Sasuke and Naruto asked. They looked at one another. "Why? What's the matter with Rai-sama?" Naruto asked. He scratched his head.

"She looks hurt…" Sakura was still looking the way where Rai was.

"Huh?" Naruto scrunched his face in confusion.

Sasuke tsked and shrugged. "Who cares… Remember, she can take care of herself." He reminded them. He placed his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes, tilting his head down.

"No!" Sakura stated, stomping her foot. "Seriously! She looks hurt! Really bad!" Sakura hand her fists balled at her sides. "I'm going to tell sensei about this." Sakura turned on her heels and ran to fetch Kakashi. They boys looked at each other.

"I'll go after Sakura." Naruto pointed his thumb at himself. "You go find out what Rai-sama's up to."

"Right!" Sasuke nodded then took off after Rai and Naruto after Sakura.

Kakashi was walking down a quiet path, his hands in his pockets, as usual.

"Kakashi-sensei!" He heard somebody scream. Two figures raced towards him further up the path. It looked like Sakura… and Naruto. They ran up to him, panting.

"Hmm?" Kakashi questioned. "Sakura? Naruto? What is it?" He cocked his head slightly. He counted them both, finding one absent. He recounted and looked up the path to see if the other number was there. "And where's Sasuke?" He asked as he looked over their heads then back to them.

Sakura and Naruto both began to talk at the same time. Kakashi looked back and forth, trying to keep up with each story. Once they were both done, they were both out of breath.

Kakashi looked confused. He only heard chunks of each, not getting a full story. "Okay…"

They began to babble again.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Kakashi put his hands up to stop them from running away with their stories again. "Okay, calm down." He let the genin breathe before he asked them each what happened to get them all riled up. "Sakura, you go first."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, when Naruto finally stopped, we heard something." Sakura began to gesture with her hands. "And we saw Rai-sama. She looked like she was injured. So we came to get you." She sighed at the end.

"Okay," Kakashi nodded, "Rai maybe hurt, but Naruka and she can take care of themselves-." Kakashi began to explain but was interrupted by Naruto.

"But, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted. "Sasuke went after Rai-sama to go see if she was alright!"

Once Kakashi heard the words 'Sasuke went after Rai', his eyes went wide and he bolted off in the direction of the cave. Those words were all he needed to hear, he knew that Sasuke was in deep shit.

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other and sighed, having to run again, and took off after their sensei.

'I hope I'm not too late.' Kakashi thought. He knew the way to where Rai would go if she was hurt, Naruka…

Sasuke had been following Rai for some time now. Being dead silent, watching where he stepped and moved. The mountains began to creep closer and closer, until they were looming overhead. He had never been to this part of the forest it was, somewhat, spooky. As Sasuke followed Rai, he noted a slight limp and her fur, in certain spots, had a darker tinge to it then it normally did.

The side of the looming mountain unveiled itself behind the trees. Embedded into the side of the ominous mountain was a large cave. Once Sasuke spotted the cave, something sent shivers up his spine. Something about this place just spelled out danger, as if this cave had something to hide: something big, something evil.

Rai entered the cave fearlessly, disappearing into the darkness.

Sasuke shuddered. He knew Rai was weird, but not this creepy! He crouched on a nearby tree for about five minutes and when Rai didn't come out, he thought it would be safe to jump down from his hiding spot. As he stood up from his landing, he stared at the cave, listening for any movement or sound that would indicate Rai was coming out.

Nothing, he slowly willed himself towards the menacing entrance. He stared at the top of the cave as he slowly drew nearer. He was a good several meters from the cave when he stopped in awe, his gaze panned down to the darkness that concealed Rai and possibly anything else in the cave. He suddenly heard something.

A grey wolf lunged out and pounced on him, knocking him on his back and skidding across the ground. The snarling wolf towered over him, growling and glaring into his face. "State your purpose," The male voice stated in a demonic tone, which startled Sasuke, he was not expecting a wolf to talk, "Before I rip your throat out." The wolf opened its jaws, baring his sharp teeth.

"Uh…" Sasuke, winded and stunned, was thrown back several meters by a wolf!

"Hurry up, boy!" The wolf threatened. "I'm hungry." The wolf raised its lips even higher, showing off its very large teeth all the way to its healthy pink gums.

"S-s-s-Sasuke… U-uchiha…" Sasuke stuttered out. "I-I… I was checking up on Rai." He managed to stammer out.

The wolf raised its head and laughed menacingly towards the trees. It then turned its focus back to the boy. "Well, Sasuke… Rai doesn't need any help/ She has all the help she needs." It sneered. "And I don't think Rai would mind if I had you as a snack." And with that, the wolf lunged to bite Sasuke's throat.

"Miroku!" A familiar voice from the cave snapped, stopping the wolf. Sasuke's eyes were shut tight, he was scared, though he probably wouldn't admit it. He could feel the wolf's razor sharp teeth very close to his skin, just grazing it. The jaws slowly pulled away. Once Sasuke didn't feel the bated breath of the demon, he slowly opened one eye to see who his savior was.

Kakashi yelled back to the two genin behind him, "You guys stay behind me! I don't know what they're going to do. So stay behind me, and when I say run, I mean RUN!" Kakashi warned. He sniffed the air. "We're getting close." He mumbled.

Sasuke was slightly shaken by his so-called 'killer' of a friend that bombarded him. As he glanced to the cave there, he saw Rai, in all her glory. Her mane bristling, her head up high, and eyes cold.

"Let the boy go!" Rai demanded sternly.

Kakashi came skidding in between Miroku and Sasuke and the forest. Naruto and Sakura came running out of the woods behind Kakashi. They gasped when they saw Sasuke pinned under the large wolf.

Miroku's head snapped to the intruders; he admitted a low growl as a warning.

"Miroku!" Rai shouted again.

Miroku's ears flattened and his tail went limp. He gingerly climbed off Sasuke and cautiously trotted back behind Rai, before stopping and turning around.

"You'll have to excuse my brother." Rai stated. "He can be a little intimidating at times." She glared at him, Miroku flinched.

Sasuke sat up, stunned.

"And… why are you here?" Rai demanded sternly.

"Uh…" Sasuke was still too stunned to talk.

"We-… We saw you were hurt." Sakura stammered out. "And we thought you needed help."

Rai looked slightly amused, but also grateful. She gave a slight chuckle and shook her head. "I'm glad you wanted to see if I was okay. But you don't need to worry about me." Rai stated.

"But you were-" Sakura was interrupted by Rai.

"I'm fine." She assured. "I have Naruka to take care of me."

Just then, another large grey wolf came running up behind Miroku and Rai. "Mother asked me to see what was going on." The calm male voice stated. The new wolf looked over the ninja standing outside. "Okay…" It sighed, dropping his head in shame. "What did Miroku do now?" It accused Miroku.

"I didn't do-!" Miroku shouted.

Rai interrupted him. "He didn't do anything wrong, Tsude." Rai stated. "Everything is alright."

Naruto groaned and rubbed his eyes. "I think I'm seeing double… No… triple!" Naruto blinked.

"Miroku, Tsude, you can go back inside now." Rai said calmly. "I can deal with this on my own." The two wolves nodded and turned to walk back into the dark abyss of the cave.

"Miroku, just because you were born after Tsume, doesn't make you in charge of bossing everyone around." Tsude began to complain.

"Well," Miroku replied, trying to defend himself. "You being the youngest doesn't give you the authority to boss me around, or tell me what to do for that matter." They kept bickering until they disappeared into the darkness of the cave and their voices dissipating into nothing.

Rai watched them until their voices faded. She sighed and shook her head. "Boys…" She then sat down and turned her head to look at the crowd in front of her.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted as she rushed past Kakashi, and knelt beside him. "Are you alright?"

Sasuke just shrugged it off and stood up, brushing himself off.

"I'm sorry Miroku gave you a scare." Rai stated, apologizing for her brother's rash behavior.

"Tuh…" Sasuke tsked. "I wasn't scared."

"Anyways, I'm alright." Rai stated, "I appreciate that you were worried about me, but I can take care of myself. I'm sorry that I interrupted your training." She said.

"You didn't interrupt our training." Naruto stated. "We weren't doing anything, just sitting around, doing nothing." Naruto put his hand behind his head. There was a good moment of silence before a growl was heard.

Rai's ears flicked up and pointed towards Naruto. Everyone looked at Naruto.

His face sweat dropped. His stomach was growling. He placed a hand over his stomach. "Heh, heh… I'm hungry…"

Everyone fell over, dumbfounded. Sakura was the first one up and punched Naruto, knocking him down. "Ooo! Naruto!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Naruto whined, rubbing his head.

"Why don't we go somewhere and get something to eat?" Sasuke stated.

"Yeah! Ramen!" Naruto shouted, jumped up, and ran off. Sasuke walked off after him. Rai sighed and stood up and turned around.

"Hm?" Sakura asked. "Rai-sama? Aren't you coming with us?"

"Nah…" Rai replied, stopping. "I'm not hungry…"

"Awe, come on, Rai." Kakashi stated, "It'll be great bonding time."

Rai sighed, "Fine." She turned and walked with them to the village.


	19. To Trust Again NOT!

Once in the village, Rai stayed glued to Kakashi's side, not leaving him for an instant. Her shoulder was always touching his leg. Rai's ears flicked back and forth nervously with all the noises, her nose flaring with all the scents, and her head even with her shoulders like she was hunting or stalking something. Her eyes would shift every once in a while to things that caught her eye, people, banners, children, and other dogs or animals. Rai was very stiff and cautious, she remembered the last time she was in the village, and she'd thought it would be her last.

Kakashi looked down at the nervous wreck, he'd been expecting this. Every once in a while he'd lower his arm and gently place the tips of his fingers on her head, to assure her that he was still there and that everything was alright, but mainly to keep her mind on track.

People on the street stopped what they were doing and stared, some whispered to one another, and others shooed their children inside, all while glaring at the wolf.

Sakura had turned and gone into a building with cloth banners hanging from the top of the door to about the middle.

Kakashi turned, walked in, and sat down.

Rai stood outside, scanning the building. She didn't know if she should go in or not.

"Is she always like that?" Sakura asked as three of the four people looked at Rai.

"No, not really," Kakashi sighed, "Only when she's in the village, though."

"So," Ayame asked, "What can I get you?" She smiled. As the two genin ordered, Kakashi just stared at Rai. She was stiff-legged and still. "And… what about you?" Ayame's question snapped Kakashi from his thoughts.

"Oh… No thank you." Kakashi stated. "I'm really not that hungry." He declined politely.

"Hmm?" Ayame looked past Kakashi and so did the cook, but he had a small smile on his face.

"Looks like you brought a friend." The chef stated.

The four customers all turned to see Rai slowly come in, head down and cautious. Rai raised her head, once her muzzle was in, whiffing the delicious scents. As she raised her head, the drape caught on her ear, so her right ear was in front of the piece of cloth while her left ear was behind it. It seemed like both ears were up, but you couldn't tell because of the drape.

"Come on in!" The chef welcomed. "Any friend of Naruto's is our friend too!"

At the chef's voice, Rai stiffened and looked like she was about to bolt. Once the fleeing instinct faded, she cautiously took a step onto the smooth concrete. The drape skidded along her back as she entered. She then moved to her right and sat by the counter entrance. Her back straight and stiff, her paws placed firmly together, her tail wrapped elegantly around her, and her gaze harsh and cold, watching the two strange people. Every movement they made caused her mane to bristle.

"Here you are." Ayame said joyfully as she placed the steaming bowls in front of Sasuke and Sakura.

Rai kept watching them.

Ayame spotted Rai staring at her, Ayame just smiled back, trying to break the unnerving feeling of the wolf's death glare.

Rai jerked her head back a bit, surprised at this woman's actions.

"What's the matter?" Kakashi asked Rai, looking over his shoulder.

Rai's gaze snapped to him then to the two behind the counter.

Kakashi followed Rai's gaze to the chef and Ayame then back to Rai. "There's nothing to worry about, girl." Kakashi assured her.

Ayame had a small bowl with some ramen in it, when she came out from behind the counter, this almost sent Rai over the edge, and she was prepared to strike or bolt. Ayame knelt down and set the bowl down in front of Rai. She sat there staring back at Rai, something that should never be done, because, to a wolf or dog, it means a challenge for dominance. Ayame smiled, stood up then walked back behind the counter.

Rai sat there, looking at the bowl set in front of her. Her grey mane still bristling. She leaned down and sniffed the bowl for a while, taking in slow whiffs of air, you could tell because of her nose, how it was moving. All the while she looked at Ayame and the chef. Rai finally decided it was alright, she began to lap up the steaming broth and noodles, little by little. She soon finished the small portion of food and pushed the bowl away with her nose, making it roll a bit. She then laid slowly down, placing her head on her paws, and sighed.

The head chef came out and picked up the bowl and replaced it with a bone.

Rai's head shot up, looking at the bone then at him.

The chef just chuckled and rubbed Rai's head. He stood up and walked back behind the counter to clean the dirty dishes.

Rai stared at the bone. She extended her left leg out and hit the end of the bone, in a downward motion, making it flip. She did it again, only it went further this time. Rai decided it was alright and stood up, grabbing the bone in her teeth and walking over to where Kakashi was sitting. She went in between the counter and the seat and laid down on his feet.

Kakashi glanced down, under the counter to see a grey fluff ball on his feet.

Rai placed the bone over her left paw and placed her right one over the bone, holding it in place. She began to chew on it, lightly, or else she'd break the bone in her strong jaws. She looked like a normal dog, laying at her master's feet, and enjoying a bone. Nothing seemed unnatural.

"She's kind of shy, isn't she?" Ayame asked as she peered over the counter, down at the 'dog'.

"Nah…" Naruto stated with a mouth full of ramen. "She just doesn't like people."

Sakura smacked him on the back of the head, making his face go in to his food.

Rai began to chew more vigorously on the bone.

Kakashi nudged her with his foot as a 'take it easy.'

Rai stopped chewing on the bone and looked up at Kakashi.

"So how much will it be?" Kakashi asked.

"The dog is free." The cook stated.

"Oh, thank you." Kakashi said gratefully as he bowed his head slightly in respect.

Rai let out a little bark as a 'thank you.'

Once Naruto was done with his second bowl, it was getting time to leave and go train. Naruto sighed as he finished his last gulp.

Just then, Rai's ears caught something, causing her to perk up, her head jerking back and forth, her ears up, and scanning. She stood up and went over to the doorway, head at shoulder height. Once under the drape, she lifted her head and looked to her left. She stood there for a couple seconds before taking off. She was barely heard, just as soft as a breeze.

"What's the matter with her?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi strained to hear whatever caught Rai's ear. It was faint, but slightly audible to the human ear. A high pitched frequency, only audible to the well trained ear. Kakashi shrugged, "She probably forgot something she had to do." Kakashi turned around and placed the money on the table, stood up and walked out of the Ichiraku's, followed by the genin.

The cook and Ayame waved and said their goodbyes. Once they were out of ear shot, the cook turned to Ayame and asked, "Did you do it?"

Ayame just turned to him and smiled.

"Good," was his reply.

Rai was already out of the village, her lungs began to get sore… 'Odd' she thought. Her vision began to blur. She shook her head, shaking it off. She kept running for about five minutes before her vision blurred so bad that she had to rely on her nose, ears, and senses to guide her around obstacles, several instances she almost ran into a rock or tree, just barely brushing it as she continued to run. Suddenly, her legs decided to disobey her, and they buckled out from underneath her, causing her to fall.

She lay there, still, waiting to regain control over her legs. She opened her eyes; the world was blurry and spinning. She felt something warm and wet begin to creep up her throat. Her eyes widened, she lifted her head, shut her eyes tight, and coughed. She shuddered, her hair standing on end. She could taste a metallic like flavor. She opened her eyes and glanced down; she saw blurry spots of crimson coating the emerald grass. She was internally bleeding, and this scared her. She didn't know what to do. Her limbs were disobeying her, she could barely see, and she was internally bleeding, how much, she didn't know.

She howled, a long, sad tone.

The wolves heard it. Megami and Chi heard her pleading cry.

Rai began to lose her breath, her howl died down to a low whimper. She stopped, her vision blurring and spinning. She rolled over on to her side, limp. The last thing Rai saw was two blurry grayish figures coming towards her at a rapid pace. She very faintly heard her name far in the distance, then teeth grabbing her skin, before her world went completely black.


	20. Just As Stubborn As Ever

It had been a week since the incident, and a week since anyone had seen Rai. The genin began to get concerned, they were supposed to be training with her, but wound up training with Kakashi. During their training, Kakashi got tougher and tougher on them each day, as Rai had explained.

The genin had finally been expecting Rai for the eighth straight day in a row, but she never showed. This was testing the genin's patience, when Kakashi came on the eighth day and stated, "It looks like I'm going to be the one training you for today."

Naruto fell over on to his back, feet in the air. Sasuke sighed, hanging his head. Sakura groaned and hung her head as well. Naruto then jumped up, off his back, and shouted at Kakashi. "Where the heck is Rai-sama?" He accused Kakashi. "She has been ignoring us for days!"

Kakashi sighed, "I honestly don't know." He shook his head. "It seems so unlike her to just forget, unless something important came up."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "For eight days? Highly unlikely."

Sakura nodded, "I highly doubt it, Rai-sama doesn't seem like one to forget something important."

There were several minutes of awkward silence. A bush began to shake, off to their far left, and a grey wolf came running out with herbs and plants in its mouth. It disappeared into the forest.

"Hey! Rai-sama!" Naruto shouted at the strange grey wolf. "Wait up!" He bolted after the grey fluff ball.

"No! Naruto!" Kakashi shot his hand out to try and stop him, but it was too late. He took off after the orange ninja, in pursuit of the unfamiliar wolf.

"That dork." Sasuke mumbled as Sakura and he stood up and took off after them.

They chased the wolf until they came to the eerie cave again. The wolf bolted through the cave entrance.

Naruto skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest, mesmerized by the cave.

A red tinted shield was drawn over the cave entrance, but you could barely tell it was there if you glanced at it. However, if something went through it, it'd shimmer slightly before fading and going back to normal.

Naruto walked into the field and placed his hand on the barrier. It was like a solid rock.

Suddenly a hand grabbed him and was placed over his mouth, startling him. "Sh… Naruto…" Kakashi's voice whispered. "Don't move, don't even breathe." He warned the frightened genin.

Naruto froze holding his breath he was scared.

Sakura and Sasuke came running in.

"Sasuke! Sakura!" Kakashi whispered over his shoulder. "Don't move!" His voice low and stern. The two froze, not moving an inch.

"Why?" Naruto tried to talk through Kakashi's gloved hand. He looked up at his captor.

All Kakashi did was stare deep into the dark abyss. The three genin looked as well, staring intently and quietly. Their eyes began to adjust themselves to the light change. They began to see very faint figures. There were two, no four, no… at least eight wolves! Either laying down, sitting, or standing. However, they all were looking towards them. They covered the whole cave floor. They all seemed harmless, just staying there and staring at them.

Kakashi was staring back at them, watching and waiting, seeing what they might do next. "Naruto…" Kakashi whispered. Naruto snapped out of his shock and looked up at Kakashi. "I want you, when I let go, to move slowly and quietly, behind me and get to Sasuke and Sakura." Kakashi explained to the scared genin. Naruto gave a small nod. With that, Kakashi began to loosen his constricting grip. Naruto began to slowly move out of reach and move behind Kakashi, towards Sasuke and Sakura.

Once Naruto was safely behind and out of the way, Kakashi stood up straight.

The wolves were very interested in him now. Several let out a warning growl. Then they went dead silent. They made a little isle and a big wolf walked gracefully down the small path towards Kakashi.

It was Naruka.

Kakashi gave a slight bow.

Naruka gave a nod. "Have you come for Rai?" She asked him.

"The kids were." Kakashi stated, nodding in their general direction.

"Hey! What did you call us!" Naruto shouted. He made a sudden move, throwing his fist in the air at Kakashi.

Several vicious snarls were heard. The pack had been very edgy and they didn't like these intruders.

"Kakashi…" Naruka said and nodded.

Kakashi looked at her and walked to the cave.

"Does he even know there's a barrier there?" Naruto asked Sakura.

Kakashi just kept walking, and walked right through the barrier, as if it wasn't there.

"Wha?" The genin were confused. How could he just walk through it?

"Then, that must mean…" Naruto stated. "He's a demon, too! No wonder why he has that mask on to hide his face!" Naruto pulled back his lips and exposed his teeth. "He has sharp teeth!" The three shrunk back slightly.

"No, I'm not…" Kakashi replied, humorously. "I'm just as normal as any of you." 'Well, somewhat…' He thought the last part. He smiled back at them. He turned to Naruka, "What's the matter? Is something wrong?" He asked.

Naruka sighed, "She called for us, Megami and Chi both found her. She'd been poisoned."

Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly. "What?" He asked sternly.

"She's very weak." Naruka stated. "There were no external wounds or anything, but she was bleeding internally." Naruka tried to clear the matter up. "We've been treating her, but there is only so much demon blood can do." Naruka sighed.

"Rai…" Kakashi sighed, his shoulders going limp. 'It's my fault; I had her come into the village…' He kicked himself mentally for even considering taking her back into the village after all the torment she went through with the villagers.

Some of the wolves growled. This caught the attention of Naruka and Kakashi. They looked to the entrance, where the genin now stood, just outside the barrier. 'Idiots!' Kakashi glared at them and thought. Naruka looked questioningly at Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed, "They won't do anything…"

Naruka looked back at the genin, "It's alright, let them in!" She sounded as if she was talking to everyone.

The barrier disappeared.

Naruto put his hand up to where the barrier was supposed to be, he felt nothing but air. He waved his hand back and forth. "Nonde?" Naruto questioned. He took a step forward through the barrier.

Several wolves growled. Naruto and Sakura jumped back behind Sasuke. "Heh, heh…" Naruto laughed nervously. "You go first."

Sasuke glared at Naruto over his shoulder. He sighed and began to place one foot in front of the other, with Sakura and Naruto literally on his heels.

As they neared the wolves, the wolves became more agitated while the genin became more frightened. The wolves bared their teeth and massive jaws, their fur bristling, standing on end, their muscles stiff and ready to attack. All eyes were on the intruders. One wrong move and they'd be wolf meat.

The wolves made a path, so the genin could walk down to Kakashi. As the genin passed, all the wolves were snarling and growling at them, threatening them. Some even snapped their jaws as they passed.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto scanned over the wolves and they all looked alike. Several of them were marked or were a slightly different color, a darker or lighter hue of grey, but they all looked the same.

Sasuke stopped right behind their sensei.

The wolves were starting to get restless. They were standing up and close to the group, watching their every move and threatening them with vicious growls and snarls.

"Heh, heh…" Sakura said nervously. "Nice doggy…"

"Come…" Naruka said as she turned around. Kakashi and his students followed the wolf goddess down the never-ending tunnel.

Candles placed along the walls, guiding the way down to the abyss, eliminated the dark tunnel. It seemed as if they walked any further they'd walk out the other side of the mountain, but never did. They came to a place where there were barely any candles, but you could still see. It was probably one of the darkest parts of the cave, but it didn't seem like it because of how used to the dark the genins' eyes were.

There was a bolder protruding out of the side of the cave. And there, at the foot of the bolder, was a grey, fluffy, limp animal.

As they came closer, they could tell it was Rai.

She looked dead. She was curled up in a ball, slightly sprawled out. Her fur was flat, her ears limp and flat out to the side, her breathing was a slight whisper, like a breeze. You could hardly tell if she was breathing or not. Her back was facing towards them.

"Rai?" Naruka stated, in her mother like tone. "Rai dear…"

Rai's form twitched a little.

"Rai…" Naruka stated. "You have guests."

Rai slowly dragged her head along the stone ground, turning to face them. She looked really ill; her eyes were glazed over, her gaze weak and half open, like a rag doll.

"Poor Rai-sama." Sakura mumbled.

Rai just gave a weak smile as she caught a glimpse of them.

Then, a wolf pushed past the group and walked over to Rai, with a bowl in its mouth. It set it down by Rai's muzzle.

Rai watched through lowered eyes, her mouth slightly open.

The wolf sat down heavily.

Rai slightly turned her head away from the bowl.

"Rai," the middle toned female voice came from the wolf, startling the genin. "Sister, please! You have to drink something! It'll make you feel better!"

Rai was too weak to respond. She just heaved a sigh.

"Rai…" Kakashi stated as he walked over and knelt down in front of her.

Rai's eyes looked up at him and they seemed slightly brighter.

"Rai, please," Kakashi begged slightly, "Just a little bit, it'll make you feel better." He tried his part at pleading with the stubborn wolf. Kakashi looked over at the wolf sitting beside him. "Chi?" The wolf looked at him, put her nose down and nudged the bowl closer to Rai.

Rai slowly lifted her head. She then began to sit up. It was painfully slow, even for the people and animals watching.

Rai did her best; her legs were shaking in groups then stopping then continuing on with their spasms. She buckled a few times but didn't fall. Kakashi was there if she did fall, he'd catch her before she hit the cave floor.

Once fully up, her head slightly above her shoulders, her back painfully hunched over and her muscles tensing and releasing under her fur. Her eyes still half closed and glazed over, her ears still limp. She gave them a weak smile.

"Good girl, Rai," Kakashi stated and placed his left hand gently on the wolf's head.

Rai moved her head to the left so Kakashi's hand was down on the right side of her face. Rai then turned her head and began to gently lick his hand.

"Yeah…" Kakashi stated, "Good girl."


	21. Recovery

For the next two days, the genin and Kakashi had been working with Rai, getting her to stand and walk again. It was tiring, even for the genin. They had gotten to a point where Rai could weakly stand and walk several steps before collapsing with exhaustion, without any help.

By the end of the second day, they had almost worked their way out of the cave; this was the farthest they have gone, Rai was really pushing herself.

Kakashi was sitting four meters or so away from the cave entrance, coaxing Rai to walk forward towards him. Sakura and Naruto were at Rai's sides, to make sure that if she did fall their way, they'd catch her before she hit the hard ground. Sasuke stood behind her, so if her back legs collapsed, he'd catch her before she fell on her butt.

Rai staggered as she walked, limping, wobbling, and sometimes having her legs buckle slightly, but she never completely fell, she would always catch herself before she hit the ground. She was panting like crazy, her body swaying dangerously back and forth, and she staggered forward.

Sakura flinched forward, thinking Rai might fall.

Rai was wheezing loudly, her breath coming in gasps. Suddenly, she stopped; her eyes went wide then shut tightly. She opened her mouth that was pointed towards the ground and coughed, her fur standing on end, and blood came shooting out of her throat and splattered on the ground.

"Oh, Rai-sama!" Sakura gasped, she knelt down beside Rai, "Okay… That's enough for today."

"No!" Rai rasped out before another cough of blood. Rai then lifted her head and look forward towards Kakashi.

"Then here." Sakura said as she took out a cloth and wiped the dripping blood from her mouth.

Rai nodded to her as a 'thank you.' Sakura nodded back, as an acknowledgement.

Rai turned and staggered painfully slow to the cave opening.

"Come on, Rai." Kakashi said with his right arm out to Rai. "Come on… That's it… Good girl, Rai, good girl…" Kakashi kept praising her with every meter she took or recovering from an almost fall.

Rai was now so close to Kakashi, her nose could just touch the tip of his finger. She limped forward, now her head was within Kakashi's reach.

"Come on, Rai… That's it, just a couple more steps." Kakashi stated, urging Rai on.

Rai was really pushing herself, her legs ached, her muscles wanted to collapse under the strain, her body was telling her to stop, but her mind told her to keep going. Rai took another step; she was forcing her unwilling body now. She gritted her teeth, grunting and groaning in pain. Her body was burning up, but the dew on the grass cooled off her paws, it was refreshing and relaxing, beckoning her sore body to just lay down on it. She was too tired, she couldn't do anything, her muscles gave up, she fell forward, closing her eyes and sighing from the release of the pressure.

Kakashi was there to catch her.

Rai had collapsed right in front of him.

Kakashi was stroking the sleeping wolf in his arms. Rai's head was up on his right shoulder, Kakashi's right arm was loosely hooked around Rai's neck, Rai's body lay across his lap, her butt and tail lay on the ground next to him. Kakashi would run his hand from her neck down to the base of her ribs, lift up his hand and stroke her again. "Good girl, Rai. You're a good girl."

"Oh, too bad…" Naruto sighed as he put his hands behind his head. "And she almost made it to."

Sakura glared at Naruto and punched him with her fist on his head.

Kakashi stood up with the wolf in his arms, limp but alive. He walked into the cave a good ways, the genin backed up and followed him, about one third of the way in. Kakashi knelt down and gently laid the wolf down on the cave floor, on her side.

"Is she dead?" Naruto asked.

Sakura was prepared to punch him. Naruto flinched.

"No…" Kakashi said, stopping Sakura from hitting Naruto and the two looked at him. "She just fainted." Kakashi stroked Rai's soft fur. He removed his hand from under her massive head and stood up. "Let's let her sleep." Kakashi looked at Rai, then turned and began to walk out of the cave with the genin.

Once they left, the barrier was put up again and nothing could come in and disturb the half-breed's sleep, except the Okami clan.


	22. Battle Practice

After two more days, Rai could walk, but she was still unsteady. Naruka said it would take about a month to get every drop of poison out, even for a demon. Rai could go with them places, but they couldn't be far from the cave.

After three weeks, Rai was acting normal, every once in a while stumbling, but she could walk, run, jump, and fight.

One day, curiosity over came the genin.

"Rai-sama?" Sakura asked.

Rai stopped walking and looked behind her at Sakura.

"When will you ever show us your true form?" She asked.

Rai chuckled. "One of these days…" She turned and kept walking, "You'll be surprised."

That night, the genin set up camp while Rai and Kakashi disappeared somewhere. They were a good thirty-five meters away from a river, so they could get water and food.

"Well," Sakura stated as she stood up with and arm full of canteens, "I'm going to get some water. Anyone care to join me?"

"Sure." Naruto said.

Sasuke just grunted.

They were about five meters from the river when they started to hear faint voices. They got closer, they could hear a waterfall and the voices became even clearer, it sounded like Kakashi and Rai.

The river was soon visible, and some figures were darting over it.

"Hey, look!" Sakura whispered to Naruto.

They took a good look because the moon was the only light.

It was Kakashi and someone else! And they were fighting… well, at least practicing.

The two genin made sure they couldn't be seen, so they hid behind foliage. They were amazed.

Rai's voice was heard, Sakura narrowed it down to the possibility that the other figure might be Rai. They could possibly see Rai in human form.

You really couldn't tell how tall she was compared to Kakashi because they were hunched over in a fighting stance. From the light of the moon, she seemed to look somewhat like the picture. She had long hair in a pony tail, she seemed to have pale skin or maybe it was just the moon. She had a black tattered t-shirt, she had faded forest green-brown shorts, gloves on her hands, a white wrap around her leg with a kunai and shuriken holster, and she seemed tall and slender, but you couldn't tell because of the constant movement.

They kept jumping around the place, throwing punches and kicks at each other, but not weapons. They even taunted each other, they would say, "Come on, is that all you got?" or "Bring it!" or "Nice try!"

Kakashi would lunge at her with punches and Rai would back up and block them. They'd switch rolls, Rai lunging at Kakashi and he'd push it away or block it. They would throw random kicks at each other, flip each other, do back flips, land on rocks or the water fall and jump off aiming at their opponent.

This lasted for hours without them tiring. Sasuke came over to see what was keeping them so long, and no he wasn't stupid, he sent a clone.

They were mesmerized by the way they moved. A fluid motion, they knew what the other was going to do next. How could anybody be so in tune with each other, they wondered.

The water was barely disturbed as they leaped across it.

Then, it all ended when Kakashi faked Rai out and threw a fake punch, but then tackled her down.

Rai let out a yelp in surprise.

The genin gasped in awe.

They skidded slightly, then they came to a halt.

Rai opened her eyes to see Kakashi over her.

Kakashi pinned Rai down against the water, his hands on her upper biceps lower shoulders, and straddling her hips, keeping her immobile.

They were both panting heavily, looking at each other. Once Rai caught her breath, she began to wiggle to try and break free.

Kakashi tightened his grip and forced more of his weight down on her, trying to keep her from moving.

Rai tried to move her legs, but Kakashi was sitting on her hip joints so she couldn't move them easily. She then tried moving her arms, but Kakashi tightened his grip to keep her immobile. She then gave up, sighed and laid her head back in defeat.

Kakashi smiled under his mask, "You done, yet?" He asked.

Rai looked up at him with her brown eyes, "Not quite…" She stated, she then began to move again, uncomfortable with the weight that was being put on her. She began to move in a way that was uncomfortable for Kakashi.

He began to tighten his constricting grip.

"Ow…" Rai whispered.

"Sorry…" Kakashi responded.

"Okay," Rai sighed, blowing up at her bangs. "I'm done…" She gave up.

Kakashi sighed in relief and released his grip on Rai's shoulders sitting back on his heels.

Rai went to sit up, "Uh… Kakashi?" She asked.

"Hm?" He questioned.

"Could you get off me?" She asked, gesturing with her eyes, glancing down to her hips.

"Oh…" Kakashi stated as he stood up to let Rai's hips go.

Rai pulled her hips out from under him and stood up. She rubbed her shoulders, "Damn, do you have to have such a hard grip?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, "Sorry."

Rai pulled up her left sleeve to look at her arm. She also moved the chain mail out of the way, "That's probably going to bruise." She stated.

"Hey, I said I was sorry." Kakashi stated as he began to head towards shore.

Rai turned into a wolf and shook herself once on shore.

Kakashi walked up behind her.

The genin walked out of their hiding place and acted as if they didn't see anything.

Sakura looked over at them shocked, "Oh, I'm sorry! Am I interrupting something?"

"No…" Kakashi and Rai stated.

Sakura knelt down and began to gather up water for the group.

Kakashi and Rai just glanced at each other.


	23. Was It A Dream?

They woke up the next morning, the genin thinking they were dreaming when they saw Rai curled up by Sakura and Kakashi, reading his book. They all packed up and headed out.

Kakashi and Rai took up the front, Kakashi slightly behind Rai and hands in his pockets as usual. Rai just walked along, slightly limping.

The three genin were huddled in a little group, lagging behind the two. They all had pouted faces and were muttering among themselves, looking suspiciously at the two.

"I had a really weird dream last night." Naruto muttered to Sakura and Sasuke.

"So did we…" Sakura stated. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

They kept discussing it until noon.

"Well, it's lunch time…" Kakashi sighed as he heard Naruto's stomach growl.

The three genin sat together eating while Kakashi read his book and Rai napped. They all stared at the two, acting as if nothing happened. Once they finished, Sakura leaned over and whispered something in Sasuke's ear.

Naruto couldn't hear it, so he leaned his ear close to Sasuke's other ear, seeing he was so empty headed, he could possibly hear it.

"What!" Sasuke shouted as he jerked his head back, knocking into Naruto's but he didn't even know. Naruto fell to the ground, slightly dazed. Sasuke slapped a hand over his mouth.

Kakashi glanced up at them. Rai's ears twitched and she opened one eye to peer at them. When nothing happened, they both turned back to what they were previously doing.

The group waited until the two were distracted again. "Sakura…" Sasuke stated once the coast was clear, "You can't be serious…"

"Serious about what?" Naruto asked as he shot his head up.

Sakura help up her pinky, it was quivering slightly. "It never fails me!" She stated proudly. The pinky is referred to as a girlfriend/boyfriend thing.

"Oo! Will that work on me?" Naruto asked eagerly jumping up.

Sakura just balled her fist and hit him full in the face, sending him flat on his back. Sasuke chuckled.

Rai whined in annoyance and placed a paw over her face. Kakashi sighed and shook his head.

They began to walk back to the village. Every once in a while, Rai would limp, then she'd go over to Kakashi and beg for him to carry her.

"Alright…" Kakashi would sigh, giving in, he'd take his hands out of his pockets, palms facing up, "Come on…" He rolled his eye.

Rai would wag her tail and jump up into his arms. Her back legs slightly missed so she had to move them, struggling slightly trying to get her rear end up.

They began to walk again. Rai wiggled around in Kakashi's arms for a while till she found a comfortable position. His arms supporting both front and rear legs and her head resting on her paws.

"You comfy?" Kakashi asked mockingly.

After a good ways, Kakashi's arms started to fall asleep. "Alright, I can't feel my arms." Kakashi would state, or "My arms are asleep." Then he'd let go of Rai.

Rai would jump out of his arms and land gracefully, she'd shake herself, riding her body of sleep.

Once they got to a certain point, Rai turned off course and head back to the cave.

The others headed back to Konoha village.


	24. I'm Rai

The next day was a day to relax, so no training.

The next day after that, the genin were all sitting down waiting for Kakashi. They all were staring at the lake.

"Man!" Naruto complained, folding his hands behind his head. "Kakashi-sensei's late!... AGAIN!"

"Just calm down , Naruto." Sakura stated.

"Just kick back and relax…" Sasuke said as he gently laid his body fall back from the sitting position, hands supporting his head, staring up at the sky.

Naruto took the cue and laid down as well.

Sakura soon followed their lead.

They began to pick shapes out in the clouds. "That one looks like a bunny…" Sakura stated, pointing her finer to a familiar shaped cloud.

"Hey! That one looks like a bowl of ramen!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing a finger at another cloud.

"Everything looks like ramen to you." Sasuke stated with his eyes closed.

Naruto pouted at him.

"Oh, you two stop!" Sakura stated.

Rai stopped about ten meters away, over hearing their conversation. She looked up at the clouds, just as the genin had been doing. She then looked over at them and smiled. She walked over, so her shadow could touch them. "So… you enjoying the view?" She asked.

The genin gazed up, only seeing a silhouette of a person blocking the sun.

Naruto rocked himself up to a sitting position and turned around, twisting his waist to look behind him. "Huh?"

Sasuke rolled himself up onto his butt and placed his arms behind him for support. He turned his head to look over his right shoulder as well.

Sakura did the same, only looking over her left shoulder, not her right.

They saw, what appeared to be a pale sixteen-year-old girl standing in front of them, well, behind them. A small gentle smile on her face, her brown eyes calm and soft, her long, waist length brown hair pulled into a low ponytail, a hitai-ate about her forehead, and bangs curling to her brow. She wore a black t-shirt, tattered at the ends, and her hip jutted out with faded brown-green shorts on them and a gentle hand placed on her hip.

The genin drew a blank. They gazed at each other and had a '?' over their heads.

"And you are?" Naruto drawled.

"Hmm?" She jerked her head slightly. "Oh duh…" She muttered to herself. They hadn't seen her in this form, or so she thought. She then chuckled a little. She placed a gloved hand at the base of her neck. "I'm Rai…"


	25. I'm Human, Yet, I'm Not

_The genin drew a blank. They gazed at each other and had a '?' over their heads._

"_And you are?" Naruto drawled._

"_Hmm?" She jerked her head slightly. "Oh duh…" She muttered to herself. They hadn't seen her in this form, or so she thought. She then chuckled a little. She placed a gloved hand at the base of her neck. "I'm Rai…" _

The genin's mouths dropped open. They couldn't believe she was so young, they thought she was older. She tilted her head to the side, closed her eyes and gave a gentle smile.

"So… you're… Rai-sama?" Naruto asked speechless.

"Mmhmm…" She opened her eyes and nodded.

The genin looked at each other , jaws still drooped; dead silence. "EW!" They all screamed.

Rai was startled; she jerked her head back and frowned slightly. "Huh? What?"

"You and Kakashi-sensei!" They shouted. "EW!"

Rai was still confused. She had a '?' over her head.

"That should be considered sexual harassment!" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger at her.

Rai blinked in surprise. "Oh, no! Ew! Not that!" Rai explained hastily as she waved her hands in front of her chest and shook her head, blushing. Once calmed down she began to laugh, showing off her fangs. Naruto and Sakura inched behind Sasuke at the sight of them. "Oh, no!" She exclaimed through her laugh. Once she settled down, she explained, "It's nothing like that."

Sakura dared to speak up, "And, you're how old?"

"Huh?" Rai asked, she let out a quick humorous breath and placed her hands on her hips. "How old do you think I am?"

The genin looked at each other and said, as they looked back at her, "Sixteen."

Rai tried to hold back her laugh, but then bent over, clutching her stomach, and howled with laughter. Her laughing fit lasted for a good couple minutes. She finally caught her breath and stood up straight, whipping the tears from her eyes. "No, no, no…" She got out between breaths. "I'm not that young."

The genin looked at each other and yelled out again in disgust. "Ew! You're like fifty!"

Rai broke out laughing again. "I'm not even half that age!" She said between laughs. As she calmed down, she cleared things up. "Okay, okay, okay. I'll straighten things out for you." Rai took a breath, calming down completely. "I'm actually twenty-one."

"Oh…" The genin sighed with relief. They stared at her.

"So…" Sakura asked after several minutes of silence, "What are you?"

Rai cocked her head, a devilish look crept across her face. She smirked, pulling one side of her lips up, baring her left fang and teeth. The genin shuddered.

"You're worst nightmare." She said in a creepy voice.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto backed up clutching each other. Sakura and Naruto screamed.

Then Rai tried to stay serious, but she began to laugh again. This time she fell over, on to her back.

Kakashi walked up so that his shadow casted over Rai's form. Rai opened her eyes with a smile on her face, looking at him; she chuckled a bit, before finally stopping; however she still had that smile on her face.

The genin were cowering in a group. They began to calm down, seeing Kakashi there. They were still shivering, clutching each other. They were staring at Kakashi, and then would glance at Rai in terror, then back to their savior.

Kakashi noted this and gave a mocking questioning look at Rai.

She just smiled on her back.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, "Looks like you finally get to see Rai in person."

Rai rolled up and sat cross-legged on the grass, slightly hunched over, as Kakashi came around to her right side.

The genin jerked away as Rai moved.

Kakashi noted this and glared at Rai. "What did you do to them now?" He asked.

"I did nothing!" Rai stated as if he was accusing her. "I was only answering their questions, and throwing in a joke or two…" She turned away and muttered the last part.

Kakashi sighed, "It's alright guys. You can stop freaking out." He instructed the genin.

The genin were still shuddering and taking deep breaths to calm themselves down.

"It's alright, she won't hurt you." Kakashi stated.

"Yeah!" Rai assured. "I can barely hurt a fly… unless it bugs the living hell out of me…" She smirked.

Kakashi bopped her over the head, not too hard, but enough to make her flinch.

"Hey!" She yelped as her head went forward, she raised it up and rubbed the back of it and glared at Kakashi. "That hurt!"

"Anyways…" Kakashi stated, "She's just a big softy." Kakashi placed his hand on her head. Rai looked up with her eyes, closed them and smiled.

"She has to act tough, but she's really a sweet heart." Kakashi said as he pushed her konoha down.

The genin finally calmed down; meanwhile, Sasuke pried the other two off him.

"Then, what's with the…" Sakura drifted off as she pointed to her mouth.

Rai cocked an eyebrow once she was done fixing her hitai-ate Kakashi had messed up.

Naruto pulled the corners of his lips, exposing his teeth. "What's with the fangs?"

"What? These?" Rai asked, lifting up her lip and pointing to her canines, after standing up.

The genin shuddered at the sight and nodded.

"Yeah, that…" Sasuke stated, having chills go up his spine.

Rai chuckled, then stared at the genin with a smile on her face. "Did Kakashi tell you how I'm" she did a quote gesture with her fingers, " 'dead'?"

The genin all nodded.

"So…" Sakura gulped.

"You're not human?" Naruto finished off for her.

Rai chuckled, "Well… half of me, anyway." Rai placed her right hand on her hip and flicked the left one out in front of her chest in a reassuring gesture.

"So…" Sakura continued, "You're a ghost?"

"Technically… No…" Rai stated, thinking. "I'm just as solid as any of you guys are." Rai tapped her temple. She then took out a kunai and pulled off her right glove. "I'm also just as human as any of you." She stated as she placed the edge of the blade in her palm and wrapped her right hand around it, tightly, making the knife cut deep into her skin, drawing blood to pool into her hand and drip out the crevices and down the knife.

The genin gasped in horror.

Rai took the knife out of her hand and shook it, causing the blood to fly off before placing it back in the pouch. She then faced the palm of her hand toward the genin, exposing her cut up hand.

Sakura went pale. Naruto looked like he was going to throw up. Sasuke looked a little green, too.

"But, I'm also not like you." Rai stated. And with that her hand began to mend itself, stretching the skin back into place, leaving not even a scar! "But you're also right. I'm not human either." She sighed, pulling her hand back, curling it up and holding it close to her chest, her eyes down cast.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned, scratching his head. "I don't get it! How can you be human, but at the same time not be?"

Rai looked down to her left.

Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder.

Rai looked up at Kakashi, giving him a shy smile.

"It wasn't her fault." Kakashi explained. "She didn't want to be like this. She just wants to be normal." He referred to the genin. "As she said, she's not like you, but at the same time, she's just as human as any of you."

The genin were still confused, even though he explained it.

Kakashi sighed, letting his hand slide off Rai's shoulder. "Have you ever heard of Sankaku?"

Rai visibly tensed at the name, but the genin shook their heads.

"Well," Kakashi began, "he's a-."

Rai cut him off, "wicked and deceitful demon. He's known for his trickery and sorcery, known for his evil ways; merciless killing, putrid ways, and horrible actions." Rai explained, her head bowed, shadows casting over her eyes. She was still clutching her hand, slowly getting tighter. "He killed thousands, destroyed many homes and villages, ruined the lives of many… including the life of my mother." Rai was suffocating her hand now, shaking as she spoke through gritted teeth. "I was the reason people shunned her, threatened her, and tortured her. I was also the reason for her death."

The genin got really scared.

Rai's eyes were full of rage, which turned to sadness. "My mother didn't even get a chance to see me grow up. She was killed when I was six. Her life taken by the villagers because of me!" Her eyes turned cold and heartless at the last sentence. "They wanted me dead, for what I am and not who! They wanted my blood on their hands so Sankaku couldn't come and he'd stay away forever! They wanted payback for what HE did to them, destroying what was precious to them, so they would destroy what was precious to him… me…"

The genin felt pity for Rai. Naruto, after all, knows how it feels when a whole village hates you, but this was different, the whole village wanted Rai dead! They wanted her dead, killing everything and everyone she held dear.

After Rai calmed down she spoke again, "There was a prophecy…" Rai's eyes dulled. "But, I'm past the age and it still hasn't happened. People were afraid of me, scared of what I was to do and become. Only five people didn't fear me like the others. They didn't even hate me. They loved me, took care of me, and saved me." Rai paused a bit. She tilted her head up a bit, a small timid smile on her face. "And I owe my life to them." She looked over at Kakashi.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked, drawn into the conversation.

"Naruto!" Sakura whispered harshly, "That's personal information!"

Rai faced them, "My mother, Sandame, Yondame, and the Hatake family." She muttered.

The genin raised an eyebrow. They paused thinking, well, mostly Naruto. "Where does that name sound familiar?" He questioned.

Kakashi looked down, slightly out of embarrassment and a sweat drop appeared on his temple.

It was Sasuke's turn to hit Naruto now. "You idiot," Sasuke stated, "that's Kakashi's surname…"

Naruto held his head, then looked at Kakashi in surprise. "Really?" It took Naruto several seconds. "Oh yeah!"

Rai took the palm of her hand and hit it against her headband, or what would have been her forehead. 'He really can't be that stupid, can he?' Rai asked herself.

"What did they do!" Naruto asked, prying more.

Sakura gave him a left hook. "That's another one, Naruto!" She snapped at him.

"Thank you Sakura." Rai nodded. She pulled her fingerless black glove back on her bare hand.

"Well, what do you know?" A voice came from behind Kakashi and Rai.


	26. Close Call

"_Well, what do you know?" A voice came from behind Kakashi and Rai._

Rai and Kakashi turned and looked over their shoulders.

It was Anko, followed by Asuma, his group lagging way behind.

"I had to see it with my own eyes." Anko stated as she and Asuma came closer. They stopped about a meter or so away. Anko leaned in to take a good look, she squinted her eyes at Rai.

Rai leaned back slightly, uncomfortable with the closeness. She watched Anko through almost crossed eyes.

Anko then took her finger and poked Rai on the arm.

Rai looked at her arm, questioningly, then back at Anko.

"Yep! She's real!" Anko stood up straight and smiled over her shoulder to Asuma.

Asuma's group walked over to where the other genin were sitting.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto shrugged.

"Oh Sasuke!" Ino drawled. "Did you miss me?" She asked as she hugged him from behind.

Sasuke growled and looked to the sky then glared at her.

"Get off him, Ino! You pig!" Sakura shouted.

Ino put a finger under her eye, pulled down slightly and stuck her tongue out at her.

"So you couldn't stand staying away from Kakashi for so long, could you?" Anko mocked playfully with a devious smirk.

Rai and Kakashi chuckled nervously. Rai scratched the back of her neck.

"So…" Anko found herself a nice rock to plop herself down on. "How'd you do it?"

"Uh…" Rai was stumped.

Just then, Kurenai jumped down from a nearby tree. She stood up and walked over. "Wow, so it is true." She said walking over. "You are back!"

Rai smiled.

Kurenai's group came walking out of the woods after her.

"Hey guys!" Kiba greeted.

Hinata shied away.

Shino thought nothing of it.

They all walked over to the group of genin, whiled the adults chatted.

"Hey!" A male voice shouted out.

The adults turned to the sound. It was Iruka.

"What's all the commotion?" Iruka asked as he got closer to them.

"Oh, nothing," Anko said in a singsong voice. "Just catching up," She smiled.

Naruto looked at the adults and raised an eyebrow. He leaned over to Sasuke and Sakura and whispered, "I thought she said she only had one friend."

Sakura shrugged, "She might not consider them friends like we do."

The genin got lost in their conversations, oblivious to the other group coming towards the adults.

"Hey, guys!" A loud male voice boomed. It was Gai and his team. "Where's the party!" Gai was smiling widely and his eyes were closed. As he drew nearer he opened his eyes and the smile dropped off when he saw Rai.

Rai's eyes went wide.

"Uh oh." Anko and Kurenai sighed, shrinking back.

"You!" Gai pointed an accusing finger at Rai. "You're supposed to be… Dead!" With that, he charged forward.

Rai stood there, her eyes returning to their normal size. She just stood there, unafraid.

Gai charged faster. "Why you!" He leapt into the air, aiming a roundhouse kick at Rai's neck and head.

Kakashi skidded in the way, blocking Gai's powerful kick with the back of his left wrist and grabbing Gai's leg with his right hand.

Gai grunted, trying to free his leg from Kakashi's grip.

Kakashi tightened his vice like grip.

"It's no use protecting her." Gai stated to his rival.

"You know that's not true." Kakashi responded. "I have to protect her, as her mother's dying wish." They glared at each other.

"Gai-sensei!" Tenten yelled running to the group, Neji and Lee following.

"What are you doing?" Lee asked.

Kakashi gave Gai one final death glare. Gai glared back slightly. Kakashi released his grip. Gai took his leg and set it down. He turned around. "It's nothing," He sighed.

Kakashi straightened up and moved back to his spot.

Gai saw his chance, he turned swinging his right arm back for a powerful punch, "Hah!"

He suddenly stopped, cold metal pressed against his throat and something jabbing him in his stomach. He gasped, eyes wide. He hadn't even heard her move, or sensed her. She was getting good, real good!

Gai glanced down nervously, sweat dripping down his face.

Rai glared up at him. She was crouched over, her right side closest to him, her left hand bore the kunai that pushed on his throat, and the right hand held the kunai boring into his stomach. "You want to fight me, fine!" She spat at him. "But, you're not gonna like me when I rip your throat out of your pulsing neck!" She whispered harshly at him, like venom. "And, trust me, I won't hold back." She slowly pulled the kunais away from the stunned jonin and put them away.

Gai's team stood there with their mouths wide open. Lee couldn't believe what he just heard. 'Did she just openly threaten Gai-sensei?' He shook his head and brought his fist up and glared at Rai. "How dare you insult Gai-sensei!" He raged and took off towards Rai.

Neji grabbed Lee and held him in a shoulder lock, holding him back, and lifting him off the ground to run in the air and not drag him along too.

"Let me go!" Lee struggled.

Neji didn't let up on his hold. "She's not somebody to go messing with." Neji grunted, struggling to hold his grip. "If she did that to Gai-sensei, think of what she'd do to you."

Suddenly, Lee stopped struggling. His eyes went wide in horror.

"You good now?" Neji asked.

"Yeah," Lee sighed.

Neji let Lee go, dropping him to his feet. Lee's shoulders slumped.

Rai had walked back over to Kakashi and Anko.

"Anybody who's been with Kakashi, must be strong." Neji stated.

"Maybe, even stronger than Gai." Tenten added.

Lee began to animatedly cry.

"You alright?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm fine, but I think Gai's reputation has diminished even further." Rai stated looking back at the crying twins. 'Creepy.' Rai mentally stated. She sighed.

Some of the genin happened to notice what had happened and were looking at the adults.

"Anyways, I-." Rai stopped and sniffed the air. She turned to her right, glaring towards the genin.

The genin shrunk back in fear.

She then lunged at them at a full run. She went straight through them, knocking Naruto over. "Sorry, Naruto!" She called back.

Naruto sat up.

"Naruto-kun! Are you alright?" Hinata gasped.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?"

"She always does that." Naruto mumbled, rubbing his head.

"What is it now?" Sasuke asked Kakashi, who came walking over to them.

Kakashi was staring off into space, where Rai took off. He shrugged. "I don't know." He silently sniffed the air. "Probably a Nikkei crossing into their territory."

"Oh." Team 8 sighed. The others looked at each other with questionable glances.

"It's a territory issue." Kakashi explained. Kiba nodded, still confused, but he knew about territory boundaries.

The genin had an even bigger '?' over their heads.

Kakashi sighed and crouched down, taking a stick and drawing an elaborate map in the dirt.

Everyone, including the adults, huddled over him.

He drew the separate countries and labeled them. "Okay, this," he pointed to Konohagakure, "is us. Naruka, or the Okami, owns all of this land." He said, circling it. "And this country, the land of lightning, is Nikkei." He pointed and tapped the stick on the country. "The northern border of Konohagakure is shared by Neko and over laps with Aiota, who are in the land of wind. And finally the village hidden in the mist is home to Kanji." He explained the territories.

"Wow that is sure a lot of land Naruka has there." Naruto muttered.

"It's all thanks to Okami and these mountains around us." He glanced around at the mountains.

"And what does this have to do with that girl?" Shikamaru asked.

"Rai is an Okami." Iruka stated, "And Kakashi I could use you for my geography section."

"Heh, heh… No!" Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, looks like the party's over." Anko said as she turned and left.

Asuma and Kurenai followed.

"Bye guys!" Kiba said as everyone began to leave. "What do you think Akamaru, being able to run around in a territory that big?" Akamaru sounded his high-pitched bark in approval.

"Bye Naruto-kun." Hinata shyly said, going after the silent Shino.

"We better head out too." Shikamaru stated. His group headed out with the others.

"Bye, Sasuke!" Ino sang.

Sakura growled.

"Should we go after her?" Naruto asked once everyone left.

"Nah," Kakashi said, "She'll call me if she needs help, but I doubt it." Kakashi looked up at the sky.

A bird flew by quickly.


	27. A Demon's Promise

Rai ran as quick and as fast as she could; she dodged rocks, trees, bushes, and animals. She didn't know who it was, but she had a good idea as to where. When the scent got stronger, she turned into her wolf form, so the other wouldn't suspect that a human lived with demons.

It was definitely a Nikkei, most likely of a higher rank, but why would a higher-ranking Nikkei come into the territory? Usually, it was a lower class by mistake, a pup or something, but never a higher rank. What were they up to?

Once Rai caught a glimpse of the black figure, she glared at it and leapt towards it. She turned and skidded on the ground, hair bristling, tail held high, head low; lips raised baring teeth, and her muscles tense.

The Nikkei was in the same position until it realized who the wolf was. It relaxed, raising its head and slightly lowering its tail. It chuckled to itself, smirking. "Well, well, well…" It said in a low male voice.

Rai snarled louder.

"What do we have here?" He began to walk towards Rai, more like stalk.

Rai's fur was standing on end. She growled viciously at him, showing off her sharp teeth.

"If it isn't Okami's little pet…" He chuckled, "How are the humans doing?" He teased, still drawing near.

Rai snarled, "Nasaki!" She spat.

"Ah… glad you remembered me." He stated as he began to circle Rai.

Rai's teeth were baring their fullest; exposing pink gums, her fur was standing straight up, her head down low and ears pinned back ready to strike, and her tail raised straight in the air.

Nasaki stalked Rai for a while, watching her snap at him and growl viciously as he teased her. "I have a message for you." He whispered harshly, once he was done with his fun. He stalked closer to Rai.

Rai backed up, snarling and snapping her strong jaws at him.

"Feisty, are we?" Nasaki drawled.

Rai backed up to a tree; her side desperately pressed against it. She continued to growl viciously.

"You know you can't win." Nasaki taunted, "You'd never win on your own, you'd need you 'human' friend to help you." He walked closer and towered over her crouching form. "And, my promise will be kept." With that, he lunged at her back, biting down.

Rai yelped loudly and tried to snap at him as he let go of her back.

He smirked and took off, his voice carried among the wind. "We'll meet at night fall to discuss the pact; A Demon's Promise."

Rai glared where he took off, gritting her teeth. Her back burned and pulsed with rage and pain. It slowly consumed all her senses. She screwed her eyes shut and tried not to focus on the burning sensation of the mark. Her grunted breathing turned into a whine as she turned her head up and began to howl her heart out.

The genin were training and Kakashi was reading his book. Suddenly, he jerked his head up, briskly stood up, and put his book away. "You guys are through training, go straight home." Kakashi warned before taking off in a dead sprint.

"What's gotten into him?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his sweaty head.

Sasuke and Sakura shrugged. "Who cares, at least we get to go home." Sakura stated. They all turned and walked to the village.

Kakashi was running as fast as he could towards where Rai was calling.

When Rai arrived at another spot, closer to the village, she howled again, letting Kakashi know where she was.

Kakashi perked up and pin pointed Rai's location. He forced himself to go even faster.

Rai was sitting limply at the base of a tree when Kakashi arrived. She sat there in her regular form, knees pulled to her chest, arms crossed and resting on her knees, and her head almost resting on her forearms; eyes down cast.

"Rai?" Kakashi quietly asked, "Are you alright?"

Rai just glanced up and to her right at him, then back down to the ground. She gripped her arms tighter, trying not to focus on the burning sensation shooting through her back.

Kakashi went to sit down next to her. Once he settled, she leaned her head on his left shoulder. Kakashi looked at Rai on his shoulder, "What? You're usually not this cuddly."

Rai started to shake.

Kakashi's eye went wide, "Hey, what's the matter?" He questioned hastily. "Did I do something?"

"No…" Rai sighed, she sounded as if she was going to cry. "You didn't do anything… It's me…" Rai clutched her arms tighter.

"What," Kakashi asked, "Who was it?"

Rai took several breaths before saying, "Just a low rank Nikkei…" She took several more deep breaths and began to calm down.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow.

That was a lie; she knew it and he knew it, but she tried to convince herself that it was the truth, as well as him.

"Kakashi…" Rai whispered after several minutes of being uncomfortable under his gaze, "You promise, what I say cannot be repeated to anyone and you must follow through."

Kakashi nodded, intently listening.

Rai sighed, trying to gather up the courage to tell the horrible truth. "It… wasn't a lower-ranking Nikkei…" She managed to mutter out, "It was Nasaki…"

At the mention of his name, Kakashi's muscles tensed and his eye went wide again.

Rai tried to force back tears, "He made a promise and… It involves a message that he'll send at night fall." She looked up at Kakashi with watery eyes. "Kakashi you have to promise me that whatever happens, you'll stay out of the way so you don't get hurt."

"I-" Kakashi tried to state, after several seconds of silence and thinking.

"Do you promise!" Rai gave him a slight glare when he didn't answer her.

"I-I promise." Kakashi stated, "But did he even say-?"

Rai squeezed her eyes shut and turned her back to him, "A Demon's Promise." She lifted the back of her shirt up, just above her shoulder blades, exposing the mark. (And, yes, for you perverts out there, she is wearing a bra…)

This bite mark had a twisting and eerie feeling to it.

Kakashi didn't know what to make of it. He just stared at it.

"If I don't follow through with the promise, the bite mark will consume me and I will surely die." Rai choked out.

Kakashi couldn't believe it. A Demon's Promise could kill. He vaguely reached out and brushed the bite mark that riddled her skin.

Rai winced, jerking forward as his hot hand grazed her back.

He contracted his fingers as she pulled away. "Rai…" He sighed, "Can we do anything?"

Rai sighed, "No…" She pulled her shirt back down to its rightful place. "If we tried anything, it will surely kill me." Rai turned around to face him. Her eyes beginning to well up, "I just hope it has nothing to do with you…" She looked down and to her left.

"When are they going to send the message?" Kakashi asked as Rai scooted closer and leaned on him.

"I'm betting by night fall." Rai stated as she found a comfortable position and sighed, closing her eyes.

Kakashi also sighed and leaned back to rest on the tree. "God, Rai. I don't know what to do with you." He playfully teased her.

Rai let out air as if she laughed and formed a small smile.

"You always wind up in trouble." Kakashi stated.

"Just like old times, huh?" Rai stated.

"Just like old times," Kakashi approved. He turned and placed his nose on the top of her head, taking in her scent. It was exactly like old times.


	28. You're Not Welcome Here Any More!

The sun was almost down and the two were in a light slumber as Naruka's mournful cry reached their ears, stirring them. Rai quickly opened her eyes and moved her head. The sound and movement caused Kakashi to open his eye and lift his head up. They were both staring at the trees in front of them.

"That's Naruka…" Rai stated after the howl died down. Rai shifted to get to a crouching position. Kakashi took back his arm and watched Rai. Once Rai had her fingertips on the ground to help support her weight, she turned to Kakashi, "I'll keep in touch as soon as I can get to you." She stated sadly. She turned back to where the sound came from, and she began to morph into her wolf form. Her body began to quickly morph; silver fur began to take the place of skin, cloth, and hair. Her face began to elongate into a wolf's jaws, her hands and feet turned into large paws, her torso lengthened out into a large chest cavity and slim stomach, her arms and legs changed and became powerful legs, and her elegant tail sprouted out of the base of her spine. This all took but several seconds. Rai took off towards the caller.

Kakashi sat there, relieved and worried. He heaved a sigh and shifted to his feet. He turned and jumped up into the trees, heading back to the village.

Rai had reached her top speed and kept going until she drew near did she begin to slow down. When she approached, she slowed to a canter, then to a brisk trot, then a slow trot as her brothers and sisters came into view. Something was wrong. Everyone seemed upset and uneasy. Their heads were down, tails limp, and ears flat to the side. Were they sulking? Rai looked around at them as she slowed down to a walk, and mentally counted to make sure everyone was accounted for including herself. They all looked at her with sad eyes, then they looked away, mostly down at the ground or from the way she had come. Naruka was also sulking; she was staring at the ground.

"Mother?" Rai asked her as she approached the large wolf.

The large wolf lifted her head up and eyes, her ears perked up. "Rai!" She stated in slight shock.

Rai looked around at the others; they were avoiding her eyes now. "Mother, what's going on?" Rai asked.

Naruka's face dropped, she turned away slightly. "The Nikkei… have… asked for a favor of us…" She slowly stated. Rai's ears dropped. Naruka saw this, "Rai, you didn't, did you?" Naruka had a slight panic in her voice. Rai lowered her head and turned her back to Naruka so she could see. Naruka gasped, "Oh, Rai!" Naruka walked closer to her. She examined the mark. "The promise… then… you have to follow through." Naruka sighed sadly.

"What is it?" Rai asked, looking behind her.

Naruka had a hard time finding the words and getting them out of her mouth. The words stuck in her throat, not daring to venture any further. "Nasaki…" She started, "has asked… for you… to be his mate…" She sighed. All the Okami closed their eyes and dipped their heads a little lower.

"What?" Rai's mouth dropped and her eyes wide. She was in disbelief.

Naruka stated quietly, "To keep the truce of the Okami and Nikkei, and to stop interbreeding, we must sacrifice one of our own. And he has asked for you."

The only thing that came across Rai's mind she blurted out, "But, Kakashi-"

"You can't speak to any of the outside world, only your family, until the full moon." Naruka interrupted Rai's statement; she knew he would come up.

Rai thought for a bit, "But, that's only five days away!" Rai exclaimed. She began to work herself up.

"I know." Naruka calmly stated, nodding her head.

"But, Kakashi-" Rai was even more worked up.

"RAI! Forget about him just for once!" Naruka snapped. "This is your family at stake!" Rai's body went limp in shock and worry. "Let's go home." Naruka turned and began to walk home, the pack followed. Rai just stood there in shock.

Chi came up to Rai. "Don't worry, sister." Chi tried to comfort Rai. "I'll tell Kakashi."

Rai stated, "It's not Kakashi I'm worried about."

Kakashi was walking through the woods, going to the Okami's cave. "It's been two days already, and still not a word from Rai." He muttered to himself. As he grew nearer to the cave, he began to feel an uneasy vibe. As the cave came into view, he began to get the feeling that he was not wanted. Suddenly, a growl emanated from the darkness of the grand cave. Kakashi stopped, "Rai?" He called into the cave. A wolf bolted out of the cave, but it wasn't Rai, it had a mark over its right paw. It snarled viciously at him.

"Miroku," Kakashi stated, "It's me, calm down." Kakashi took his hands out of his pockets on instinct and held them up to give a 'no threat' sign. He gave a slight glare at the demon and went to advance forward. Several more wolves lunged out. "Tsume! Megami! Heige! Hachi!" Kakashi called out. "What's going on?" On instinct, he took up a defensive position. Naruka then lunged out with several others, snarling and showing off their sharp teeth.

"Stay away boy!" Tsume snarled.

"You're not one of us!" Megami threatened, jaws open wide.

"Go or we'll rip you to shreds!" Miroku snapped his jaws then snarled at him.

"What's going on? Where's Rai?" He demanded of the Okami.

Naruka advanced forward, "It's because of you she's like this!" Several of the Okami raised their vicious snarls at the statement.

Kakashi had no idea what was happening, he tried to get a grip on the situation. He took bits and pieces. 'Not one of us', 'Stay away', and 'Because of you she's like this!' Kakashi was really confused as he looked around to the eleven Okami. 'Wait, eleven? Aren't there thirteen?' Kakashi questioned his memory. He recounted. Chi and Rai were both missing. He looked over the Okami and into the darkness of the cave.

Very faintly, he could see the outline of two wolves; one was standing the other sitting. They were both looking in this direction. His vision soon cleared and he could see a konoha around the sitting wolf's neck. "Rai…" He stated unconsciously and moved forward. The pack snarled and advanced on him. He looked back to the pack, and backed up. 'What did I do?' He wondered. He vaguely saw Rai turn her head and drop her ears. Chi looked at Rai and tried to comfort her.

"Leave!" Naruka snapped at him. He began to slowly turn, still staring into the cave. He caught a glimpse of something shine on Rai's cheek. Was Rai crying? He turned to go back the way he came. He took several steps, then turned to look back at the Okami. They were still snarling at him as he slowly fled. He gave a sigh then turned and jumped into a nearby tree, heading back to the village.

Rai couldn't bare to watch as her family drove away the person that was most important in her life, that saved her life, and protected her life. She lay down and cried herself into a light slumber.

Darkness fell across the land as evening turned into the dreaded night. Kakashi sat on the roof of the apartment complex where he lived, gazing at the almost full moon.

When Rai awoke from her slumber, she wanted to go outside and stretch her legs. She exited the cave, accompanied by some of her family. She stopped and stared up at the moon. 'I wonder if he's looking at the same moon?' She wondered. She took a deep breath and let out a mournful howl. Some of the others whined and then joined in with their mournful voices.

Kakashi perked up as Rai's sorrowful voice sang in his ears.

The voices died down, Rai's note still lingered in her voice and slowly faded. Her ears perked up, listening for the faintest sound of a reply.

Nothing.

Rai's ears dropped, she turned and moped.

Suddenly, a silver voice emanated from the wind. Rai's ears caught the sound, her voice started to whine, trying to call back to her friend. She let it out, in a beautiful, mystic chime.

They sang back and forth to each other, several people waking and looking out their window, wondering what the beautiful noise was.

They finished in mournful sorrow, their voices dying down to a mere breath, leaving the note to travel among the wind. As a breeze came, Rai closed her eyes and leaned her face into it, gathering up her last memories of Kakashi, his scent and voice.

"Goodbye," She whispered to the wind as it moved away and she opened her eyes. She turned and moved with the rest of her pack.

*Author's Note!

Hi guys! Thanks for reading! And no this is not the last chapter… Just to give you guys a good idea as to how big Naruka is, if any of you have seen New Moon, the werewolves in that are about her size. *Sigh* I am not a Twilight fan fortunately… I do not like the books, but I love the wolf graphics, though they do the emotions, postures, and several disproportionate things wrong. I was forced to go see it with my cousins… Sigh… So, that's probably the closest thing to Naruka that is out there that people know of. Anyways, Please continue to review! I love to hear from you guys! Even if you review to say it sucked… hopefully not… Your reviews are what keep me going! I want at least five reviews before I post the next chapter! Next time it will be seven! Mwahahaha! I am evil!

Sayounara!

Rai-sama


	29. Tossing And Turning

The next morning, Kakashi was lounging outside on a rock reading his book, trying to get his mind off what had happened the previous day. As for the genin, they had the day off. It was a comfortable day with a slight breeze tossing the trees. Kakashi had been reading peacefully, or at least trying to read. He would begin to read where he left off, but then his mind would wonder from the words on the page to what the Okami had said to him. He'd catch himself drifting off, sigh, shake his head, and return to reading. Kakashi felt a presence slowly come closer to his spot. A shadowed figure prowled around in the shadows of the forest. Once Kakashi saw the figure out of the corner of his eye, he began to track it silently with his eye. He continued to act as if he was still reading. The bushes rustled and his muscles tensed, preparing for the worst possible scenario.

Then, a grey wolf poked its head out of the bushes. It looked left, right, and then left again. It ducked its head back into the bush, it rustled and the wolf slowly crawled out of the bush. Kakashi noted that the wolf had a konoha loosely placed around its neck. He put his book away and placed his feet on the ground and elbows on his knees.

Kakashi perked up, "Rai?" He questioned the wolf as it slinked closer to him. It crouched low and trotted over to him as fast as its legs would let it. "No… Kiori… No, Chi?" Kakashi tried to correct himself as he silently sniffed the air. The wolf looked up at him as it got to his feet. "Wha- What are you doing with Rai's hitai-ate?" Kakashi asked.

"I have a message from Rai." Chi stated as she lowered her head and allowed the headband to slide off her neck. Once it gently plopped to the ground, she raised her head and sat down. Kakashi braced himself. "I am going to repeat everything Rai told me." Chi explained. She then closed her eyes and cleared her throat. "The deal has been set. The promise will be fulfilled. Nasaki, of the Nikkei, has asked me to be his mate and I must follow through. The ritual will take place on the night of the full moon.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there to tell you this personally, but I'm not allowed to see outsiders. They have agreed to let me come back and see my family and friends. I am sorry, goodbye." Chi then let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and opened her eyes and looked up at Kakashi. Kakashi was still trying to compute with all the information he had just received in the last several minutes. He sat there in shock. When he kept staring at the ground, not moving, and not responding, Chi got a little worried. "Do you want me to repeat that again?" She asked, her ears flat out to the side and a sweat drop going down the side of her face.

Kakashi knitted his brows together, "Full moon?" He questioned himself. Chi cocked her head to the right. Kakashi was still trying to grasp the situation. Phrases ran through his mind like an annoying song that is stuck in your head. 'Deal has been set', 'The promise', 'Nasaki', 'Full moon', 'Mate'! Kakashi muttered out again, "Full moon?" Chi nodded. "But-" Kakashi stammered out, "But isn't that tomorrow night?" Chi looked down. Kakashi shot up. Chi stood up, noting Kakashi's swift movement and trying not to get in the way as he took off past her at full speed. She just stood there, her head following Kakashi's form until he disappeared into the trees. She sighed, shaking her head. She bent her head down and slipped Rai's hitai-ate over her head and walked off after him. Kakashi raced as fast as he could to the cave. He was able to change into a wolf form. He turned into a beautiful silver-white wolf; he had random scars marring his body. However, the most distinct indication it was Kakashi was the konoha around his neck and the scar over his open sharingan eye. Nearing the cave, he became cautious and slowed down to a slow walk.

Rai had caught his scent and mindlessly sauntered out of the cave. She was hypnotized by it. She caught sight of him when she walked about 15 meters into the woods; her whole world came crashing back to reality. She was ready to bolt. He just froze and stared at her. "Rai…" He muttered. She looked like a deer in the headlights and was a breath away from turning tail and running. "Why?" He asked. Rai stood there staring at this man, in wolf form, that she knew. She panicked, then took several deep breathes before she found the courage to speak to him.

"As a friend, I ask of you to come to the ceremony," Rai stated plainly.

"What?" Kakashi questioned. This hit him like a ton of bricks; he was so stunned.

Rai took a deep breath and repeated, "Will you attend the ceremony?" She tried to sound as emotionless as possible, though her throat almost choked her and her heart was aching.

Kakashi stared at her for a minute, "Rai… Why are you going through with this?" He muttered as he stepped towards her.

"Kakashi," Rai sighed in sorrow and frustration.

"NO! I can't have you go through with this!" He demanded, stamping his left front foot. Rai sighed again, turned her back to him, and sat down.

"Kakashi…" She didn't know what to say, "I… I don't think…" She mumbled. "If you're not happy for me… then, you should probably not attend the ceremony…"

This hit Kakashi so hard it made him flinch, "What…"

"Just promise me, Kakashi, you won't ruin it and don't do anything stupid when I'm gone," Rai stated as she stood and began to walk off.

"Rai!" He called out. She stopped but only to take a quick glance over her right shoulder.

"I'm sorry," She muttered. She turned her head, hung it low, and walked away in shame and grief.

"Rai!" He called out again, "RAI!" His voice faded away into the crisp night air. That night, neither of them could sleep. Kakashi was tossing and turning on his bed. He couldn't believe this was happening. It was almost as if this was a dream, or nightmare to be more exact. It didn't feel real at all.


	30. Mass Confusion

The next morning, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were walking to the training grounds. They stopped when they saw Kakashi, and in front of him was a mass mob of chunin and jonin, about 30+. He was talking to them, and then turned to look over his right shoulder at the genin. Some of the shinobi looked too. Kakashi turned back to the group and stated a little louder, "Everybody got their coordinates? Good, now, we meet before the sun hits the mountains! Break!" All the shinobi scattered into different directions. Once all of the ninja were gone, the genin walked closer to their sensei. Kakashi placed his hands in his pockets and nonchalantly turned around and walked to the very confused genin. "Was there something we missed Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Why were they all here?" Sasuke pried as well.

"Hmm? Who?" Kakashi cocked an eyebrow.

"You know," Naruto stated and ticked off his fingers, "Kurenai and Asuma sensei, and even Iruka sensei!"

"Why were they all here?" Sakura asked again, since Kakashi avoided Sasuke's question.

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, "We had a mission assigned to us and we were just having a little meeting to go over it." The genin looked at him suspiciously. A sweat drop formed on Kakashi's temple.

"All of them?" Naruto questioned, crossing his arms.

"About what?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Kakashi came up with a quick-witted lie, "It's classified." Kakashi then redirected the conversation to their training. "Alright, enough, we need to train." Kakashi stated to the group as he headed to the center of the field. The genin shook their heads and gave a little sigh before following their sensei to the center of the field. "I want to start off with one on one, and then we'll go three on one. How does that sound?" Kakashi asked as he turned to face his students.

"Wait, did I hear that correctly?" Naruto asked, "Kakashi sensei… is going to be training… with us?" Naruto asked Sakura and Sasuke. They were equally confused.

"Alright, something is definitely going on here," Sasuke stated. "What are you up to Kakashi?" They eyed him questioningly.

"What? Can't I get in some training before a mission?" Kakashi asked as innocently as he could. "All shinobi of all ranks need practice, even the Hokage."

"He has a point there," Sasuke sighed.

"Are you ready, Kakashi sensei? Cause here I come!" Naruto shouted and lunged at him. They all fought him one on one then moved onto the three on one. Kakashi had to admit, they were getting better, but still not good enough. They took frequent breaks and used immense amounts of chakra, except Kakashi, who used practically none.

The Okami were restless today. They were irritable and aggressive towards each other. There was mass confusion in the group among the rankings. For example, Kiori, a lower rank, would be laying down and Tsume, a higher rank, would walk by. Kiori would growl and bite at Tsume and start a fight. Tsume wound up the victor; however, the defeated Kiori was still aggressive. Rai just sat there watching the antsy clan. Megami just put Hachi in his place and went back to laying down in her corner when Chi came up to Rai.

"Sister," Chi asked Rai. This snapped Rai out of her dazed thoughts and brought her back to the painful reality. Rai looked over at Chi and slacked her jaw just a little. "Are you alright?" Chi asked warily, due to the tension in the air. Her head low, ears and eyes towards Rai.

"Yeah," Rai sighed, looking away and down.

"There's something bugging you," Chi stated, she jerked her head up and turned it slightly to one side, giving Rai a squinted glare.

"Heh," Rai chuckled a bit. "You're never fooled, are you?" She looked at Chi from a side-glance.

"Nope," She stated proudly, bringing her head high and puffing out her chest. Rai smiled, and then looked down at the ground. Chi lowered her head slightly and deflated her chest. "Is it Kakashi?" She asked, leaning her head in closer.

Rai snapped her head up to look at Chi, "What?"

"Are you worried about him?" Chi asked. Rai's ears went limp. She turned away.

"I… I just… don't know. I might not ever get to see him again." Rai sighed. "And the last words I ever said to him personally were 'you shouldn't come'." Rai slumped her head down even further.

"He will come," Chi assured her, walking around to look Rai straight in the face. Rai looked up a little and smiled.

"Thank you," She whispered. Chi smiled back. A shadow cascaded over them.

"It is time," Her mother's voice stated. The pack trotted out of the cave, all of their heads at shoulder height, and several picked up a slow three beat gait. Naruka and Rai were the last ones to leave. A ghostly figure watched them from the mountaintop. Every once in a while, several pack members would stop and wait to see if Naruka and Rai would catch up. As they approached the ceremonial grounds, they saw some flickering through the trees. "Rai," Naruka stated, looking back at her, "stay here." Rai did as she was told. The pack moved forward and vanished into the darkness of the night shadows, all except for Chi and Rai. Rai sat down heavily on the ground, sighing. Chi sat down beside her. Rai laid down and crossed her paws, placing her head on them. Chi cocked her head and knitted her brows together, worried about her sister.


	31. It Has Begun

A group of dark figures raced to the outside training grounds, outside the village. They came alone or in pairs. They jumped over the tree tops, running on the ground at break neck speeds, all forming a little crowd in front of one man. Once the crowd ceased to increase, the man in front of them spoke. "Is everyone here?" He questioned above the dead silence. The crowd just looked around, seeing if anyone was missing. There was no reply. "Good…" The man stated, "Now, let's go." With that, he turned around and ran off into the woods with the crowd running silently behind him. As they ran, one by one they began to change, dodging and weaving in and out of poorly placed trees, barely a meter from each other at points.

The man in front changed first; it was a split second, he ran behind a tree and out from behind came a beautiful silver-white wolf with random scars and cuts here and there on his body. Wolves suddenly took the places of the figures. They ranged in a variety of colors, from white to black, dark brown to blonde, they all transformed from their human state, into a wolf/dog like state.

Megami and Naruka had returned, Megami looking sad and Naruka having a statue's expression. "Come now dear." Naruka stated, "It is time…" She began to turn around and face the direction she had come from.

"Yes…" Rai sighed as she stood up. Naruka's eye caught something.

"You're going to have to remove that, dear. Nothing from the outside life you had can-" Naruka was interrupted by Rai.

"But, Kakashi gave this to me!" Rai looked down and muttered, "It's special."

"Rai… forget about him!" Naruka stated. "You're beginning a new life; remove the remnants of the old, so you don't dwindle in the past." Rai's eyes began to well up as Naruka turned and walked off.

"Rai," Megami's sweet voice stated with concern.

"Sister," Chi muttered, stepping closer. Rai sighed. She looked down; her ears limp.

She bowed her head towards Megami and Chi, "Here." Chi grabbed the bow of the konoha in her teeth and stepped back, pulling the konoha with her. Rai felt bare without her hitai-ate. That one simple piece of cloth with a strip of metal meant so much to her, and without it, she felt empty and useless and saddened. Chi held the prized konoha gently in her mouth. Megami gave a gentle nose to Rai's cheek. Rai rubbed her head under hers. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a drumbeat sounded. They all looked around, trying to pinpoint the beating.

"It's begun," Megami sighed. She looked sadly at Rai and then turned and walked to where Naruka went, "Let's go." The three walked slowly up to the beginning of the ceremonial crowd. There were two lines, one to the left and one to the right. The left was made up of Okami, and the right Nikkei. It led up to a half circle, in front of a slightly raised stone platform, with torches in each of the four corners. Nikkei stood proud and tall on the right side of the platform. Naruka walked down the gap that separated the two feuding sides. The Nikkei snapped at her and the Okami growled viciously at them. Megami met up with Tsume and walked towards Naruka with him.

Paw pads landed softly on the ground of the dark forest as they ran, barely making a sound.

Rai waited until Megami and Tsume reached the end then started her slow journey to the platform where Naruka stood on Nikkei's right. Rai slowly walked down the path her siblings walked along. Her eyes down and half closed. As she got to a certain point, she looked over at the Nikkei, not turning her lowered head. The Nikkei growled with excitement, snapping their jaws at her every chance they got.

Panting was heard among the group as they rushed to their destination.

Chi met up with Tsude and fell into the half circle surrounding the front of the platform.

Wolves of different colors swiftly weaved in and out of trees, not wavering in their speed.

Nasaki walked up proudly to Rai, chest puffed out and head high with a smirk on his face. Some of the wolves growled with excitement. Rai, however, looked at him then down at the ground, head down, ears and tail flat. The music ceased.

"Any followers?" Nikkei asked one of the pups who neared the platform hastily.

"No, sir," He stated and bowed down low in submission.

"Good," Nikkei responded. The pup immediately retreated to his place among the pack. Nikkei stood proud and tall. He took in a deep breath, "My fellow pack members," His loud, low voice rumbled. The Nikkei's snapped their heads to their leader, because they were preoccupied with a growling match between the Okami and themselves. "My…" He softened his voice as he looked down at Rai. She looked up at him. "Future daughter…" Rai glared away from him. "We assemble here, under the full moon, to bond our two rivaling families." At this, the wolves looked at each other and growled. Rai felt the wounds on her back begin to tingle. "Under the stars and moon and watched over by the great demons before us. They shall all agree that these two," He referred to Rai and Nasaki, "are the key to end our family feud." He turned to Naruka, giving her a slight glare. "Do you have anything to add?" He growled. Naruka glanced to her left and her hair bristled.

She looked back to Rai then back to the large black wolf beside her, "Nothing to add." She said emotionlessly. Rai sulked even more. She hoped that her mother could see how much she despised this and how much she wanted to return home, to Okami, to Kakashi.

Nikkei looked at the Okami's side, "Anything you want to say?" He dared them to interfere.

Miroku growled, raising his lip, "Nothing you sons of bitches can do about-"

"SILENCE!" Nikkei shouted, snapping his jaws.

"You ungrateful insignificant-," Nasaki turned to Miroku and snapped.

"That's enough," Nikkei shouted to Nasaki. Nasaki immediately submitted. Nikkei then turned his massive head towards the sky. "We shall now bond these two demons."

'Kakashi…' Rai thought as she glanced over her left shoulder to the Okami's side. When she didn't see him, she turned forward and lowered her head, a tear rolled down her cheek. Suddenly, a low howl was heard. All the wolves snapped their heads and ears to the forest behind the Okamis. Rai's ears twitched. She raised her head and looked to her left. "Kakashi?" She questioned herself. Once the howl disappeared, Nasaki's stunned faced turned into a raised lip and glaring eyes. He growled at Rai. Rai turned to him, eyes wide and slightly shrinking away. Nikkei turned to Naruka and growled.

"You vile insignificant wench," Nikkei yelled and swiped a massive paw over Naruka's left shoulder and neck. This sent her flying off the platform.

"Mother!" The Okamis yelled. The Okamis growled at Nikkei and leapt at him.

This started the war.


	32. Master Will Not Like This

Okamis collided with Nikkeis. Each one ripping and tearing flesh, and snarls and yelps were heard as they bit, scratched, and tackled each other. They sometimes, in the mass confusion, even bit some of their own. Rai backed up as Nasaki stalked forward, growling, "You'll pay for this." Rai crouched down far, her tail down and ears pinned flat against her skull as she backed up. The burning on her back had consumed her senses, but she was trying to focus on staying out of a fight with Nasaki. Her rump bumped into some ruff bark of an oak. Nasaki stalked ever closer. The burning sensation slowly dissipated. Suddenly, her expression changed. She raised her lip baring her sharp teeth; her hair bristled straight up, her posture stiffened, her ears flattened further against her skull, and her tail stood straight up. They lunged at each other, colliding in mid-air and landing. Their bones and skin broken and bloody, that one blow knocked Rai down on her side. A grey wolf came running over and slammed into Nasaki, causing him to go flying.

"Chi?" Rai gasped for air.

"Rai," Chi asked, "are you alright?" Chi snapped her head to her struggling sister.

Rai staggered to get to her feet, "I'm fine." She stated before shaking off the blow. Chi nodded. She turned her attention towards Nasaki.

"Go help mother," Chi stated, then growled, "I'll take care of Nasaki." Chi's demeanor had changed completely. She was so focused on tearing Nasaki to shreds; she wouldn't have cared if the world exploded beneath her paws.

"Right," Rai stated and took off towards Naruka, while Chi lunged towards Nasaki. Rai weaved in and out of the battles or little scraps of tumbling wolves. She rushed over to where she last remembered Naruka to be. She saw Nikkei's large figure stalking someone. She glared and burst into a full run and headed straight towards him. Nikkei stalked over to Naruka, who was having trouble getting up.

"You like it?" Nikkei taunted her. Naruka's left forearm was numb and immobile. "I call it my Poison Claw." Nikkei sneered, "It immobilizes that part of the body and slowly spreads throughout your entire body so you can't move." He towered over her down form, "Now, to finish you off!" He snarled. Suddenly, a grey blurb crashed into Nikkei, sending him stumbling and falling onto his right side.

"Who," Naruka questioned, then quickly sniffed the air, "Rai?"

"Don't you dare harm my mother!" Rai snarled viciously, her eyes flashing red. Nikkei stood up, wobbly. He was stunned, and then shook his head and glared at Rai. Tsude and Hige jumped in front of her.

"Help mother, we got him." Tsude stated over his left shoulder and lunged for Nikkei. Rai quickly attended to Naruka.

"You're mine!" It was Nikkei! Somehow, he was able to avoid Tsude and Hige all together and was now going after Rai.

Nasaki lunged at the defenseless Chi, who was sprawled out on the ground, bloody and bit up. Nasaki was struck by a white blur and sent flying. The white blur landed. It turned out to be a wolf, a white wolf. The wolf turned to the Chi and came closer, "Rai?" Chi's ear twitched and she opened her left eye to look at who said her sister's name. Her blurry vision revealed a white blob, which turned into a wolf. Chi's eyes snapped open and her hair bristled. "Rai?" The wolf asked again. That voice sounded familiar, and Chi's hair flattened.

"What?" She muttered, raising her head to look at the wolf. She was in a slight daze, "No." She blinked several times before she remembered she had Rai's konoha around her neck, "No!" She stated.

"Chi," the wolf asked, "what are you doing with Rai's hitai-ate?" Chi went to stand, unsteadily. The wolf helped her steady herself. Chi turned to thank the wolf, when she noted the scars; the one that caught her attention was the one over his left red eye.

"Kakashi?" Chi questioned, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"Are you alright?" He asked her after a brief nod.

Chi shook her entire body, "I'll be fine." She bowed her head and let the loose piece of cloth slide off her neck, "Here, take this. I need to settle some scores." Chi turned on her heels and bolted into a vicious fight of claws and fangs. Kakashi gingerly picked up the headband in his teeth and took off to find Rai in this messy and chaotic battlefield.

Nikkei had scratches and bite marks all over his body. Rai was in no better condition. She moved her neck, causing it to crack, and her wounds began to heal and mend themselves. She glanced around, the Okami were losing. "No," She gasped.

"Yes," Nikkei drawled out. He went to lunge for her. More wolves, of every color, came running in and knocking the Nikkei off the Okami, unexpectedly. Some of the Okami looked up grateful. Rai sniffed the air; all their scents seemed so familiar. One in particular caught her nose, a scent she loved and could easily get lost in. A white wolf with a konoha dangling from its mouth ran up to her.

"Kakashi," She asked absent-mindedly. She watched the wolf approach her as if it were a dream. Once he got close to her, they stared at each other for about five seconds.

"I thought you needed this," He stated. Rai put her nose through her konoha as Kakashi slid it over her head and onto her neck.

"Thanks," She stated, smiling at him, and he smiled back at her.

"Awe, how pathetic," Nikkei's voice snapped their attention in half. Their heads snapped to him. Kakashi instinctively growled and took several steps in front of Rai.

"Kakashi don't!" Rai warned him. Suddenly, a tan and brown wolves leapt towards Nikkei. With one massive swipe of his giant paw, he sent them flying and skidding across the ground. Rai gasped. Kakashi growled and leapt for Nikkei. "Kakashi!" Rai went to stop him, but he was too quick. Nikkei chuckled and swiped his massive paw again. Kakashi dodged it and bit him on the side of his neck, locking his jaws shut and trying to tear off more flesh. Nikkei growled at him, turned his massive head quickly, and nailed Kakashi with a well-placed snap of his jaws on his side. Kakashi yelped, letting go of the demon. Nikkei flung him, and he went skidding and tumbling across the ground, bleeding from his side. Rai had leapt at Nikkei when Kakashi yelped. She snarled viciously. Nikkei slammed his jaws together and slashed at her with his claws. Rai dodged everyone, snapping and scratching at his muzzle and paws ever chance she got. Nikkei got annoyed with this little grey gnat and faked her out. Rai fell for it, hard. Nikkei lunged for Rai's unprotected neck, save for the headband. He bit down hard and sharp, snapping her vertebrae in her neck and severing her external jugulars and carotid arteries. Rai didn't even have time to yelp before she was bit and was sent sailing and her back collided with a very thick oak, severing more vertebrae.

Naruka gasped and glared at Nikkei, "How dare you!" She spat out. She mustered up all her strength and lunged from her spot on the forest floor. She attacked Nikkei with all her might. Though she wasn't fully recovered, she was still able to draw blood from the massive demon. This time, she wasn't alone, the others had heard or saw what happened to Rai and joined in. The Okami and the other different colored wolves jumped in to fight Nikkei. He was buried by wolves, biting and swiping at him. Kakashi stood up and shook off the pain. He went to go fight Nikkei when Nasaki collided with him. They romped over the ground, tumbling and snarling. They bit at each other's legs and undersides before being kicked off.

After several minutes, Nasaki kicked Kakashi off him and shouted, "Retreat!" All of the Nikkei thrashed themselves free of the wolves they were fighting and turned tail and ran. Nasaki, in his retreat, stopped to look back at the snarling dogs and wolves.

Another Nikkei ran up beside him, stopped and looked back, "Master will not like this…" They turned and ran off to their territory.

Kakashi stood in front, still growling. He ceased growling and smirked, then turned around, head raised slightly above his shoulders. Rai was standing right there, glaring at him through squinted eyes, her head even with her shoulders. He gasped, "Rai." A little surprised to find her standing so close to him. She squinted her eyes even further. The Okami began to feel restless and agitated. They were literally nose-to-nose.

"Why'd you come?" Rai asked in a hushed tone.

"I-… ah…" Kakashi looked away, trying to find an answer.

"I told you," she raised her voice, "NOT TO!" She growled and stepped forward, forcing him back. "You were supposed to leave me alone!" She snapped at him strongly. The Okami began to emit low growls.

Kakashi glared back at her, finding the courage, "I was 'supposed' to protect you!" He yelled back, forcing his head slightly forward. "Your mother gave me an order before she died…" Kakashi was slightly towering over her now. "And I intend to carry it out for the rest of my life!" Rai crouched down slightly, ears back and eyes slightly wide. She then glared at him, squinting her eyes. She was breathing heavy, and then looked away, down to her right, glaring at the ground. If the ground could move, it would have avoided Rai's glare. Kakashi softened his voice, "And it wasn't just me either." Rai looked at him questioningly out of the left corner of her glaring eyes, she didn't move her head. Kakashi looked up and behind her, "Look around you." Rai turned her head to look behind her. Mingled in with the Okamis were many other wolves, they didn't look familiar, but some of their scents were. The Okamis were looking around as well. "Chunin, Jonin, even some ANBU Black Ops, came here…" Kakashi stated.

A dark brown wolf stepped ahead of the group. A scar on its muzzle indicated that it was Iruka, "We all came here, at our own accord. We all wanted to save you, Rai."

"We all care for you," Megami stated stepping out of the pack.

"And we all love you," Chi stated, walking up to Rai and rubbing heads. A small smile graced Rai's face. She then turned back to Kakashi with a straight face.

"You're still in trouble, you know…" Rai stated sternly.

"I know," He stated simply. Rai shook her head with half a smile on her face. She walked up and playfully tugged on his right ear. He pulled back, fwapping it from her mouth. He looked at her with smiling eyes. Rai smiled at him.

"Alright, enough sappiness," a voice shouted out from the crowd. The crowd began to mutter things, turned, and went home.

As they walked home, one of the Okami stated, "You know, you should probably all turn back into your regular forms. Because this would technically be breaking the pact we have with the village." The group muttered 'Yeah, you're right,' and changed back into their normal forms.

"Let this be known, that this will be the ONLY exception to the pact," Naruka stated, making sure it was clear to everyone. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," the group of humans stated to the Goddess.


	33. Snowfall

Several months later, snow fell in Konoha. Everyone looked out his or her window in disbelief. Sakura walked to the training grounds stunned. She wore her pink sleeveless kimono, pink arm warmers, wrapped legs, ninja boots, and a heavy tan cloak. She stopped and gazed around. "Sakura," She heard a voice call. She snapped her head in front of her. It was Rai. She had a long sleeve shirt with the Uzumaki symbols on the biceps and long brown-green pants, like her shorts only they are pants, fully black gloved hands, and special snow sandals. With the exception for those several things, everything else was the same. She was waving and had a smile on her face. Sakura smiled once she recognized who it was and jogged up to her.

"Hi, Rai-sama," She stated as she approached and stopped right in front of her.

Rai placed both hands on her hips, "Hi, Sakura." The falling snow caught in their hair. Rai and Sakura both looked around and up at the snow falling from the sky. Rai let out a breath. Sakura looked around again.

"Where are the others?" She asked.

"Late, I suppose." Rai stated, turned around and walked away from Sakura. She stopped suddenly and fell backwards.

"Rai-sama!" Sakura gasped and shouted out in fright.

"I'm alright," Rai assured, flopping her hand in the air. She flopped it back down and looked at the grey sky. Thoughts raced through her mind of when she first saw snow. Half-closed eyes deep in thought as she stared at the drifting snow. Some of the snow had collected on her cheek and melted, creating a water drop to run down her face to her ear, almost like a tear. She lay there for who knows how long, perhaps roughly five minutes. A dull shadow cascaded over her face. She looked up, exposing her neck, which she would never do for an enemy or threat.

"Hey," the shadow figure simply stated.

"Hey," she replied. After staring at the figure for a while, she rolled up to sit on her rear, hunching over and pulling her knees to her chest to hug them. The figure walked over the crunching snow to Rai's left. It was Kakashi, who only added a scarf and boots to his costume. Rai sat watching the snowfall. She broke the silence, "Why does the snow bring back so many painful memories?" Rai muttered.

"Hmm?" Her companion asked. The question was more meant for her rather than him. "What do you mean?"

"It reminds me of my first time I saw snow," She paused, "with my mother." She added. "And the snow fell a couple of months before I died…" Rai tried to bury her face even further into her arms. "I've made so many mistakes in my life."

Kakashi glanced down to Rai, then up to the grey sky, "People make mistakes, Rai. It's what we do to learn." He stated. "Even I made mistakes." There was a pause. "And there was one mistake I'm glad I never made." He stated as he crouched down beside her.

Rai turned her head slightly with her eyes, "Oh?" She questioned, hopelessly. "And what's that?"

Kakashi smiled slightly behind his mask as he looked at her, "Missing your birth…" This made Rai blush a little and smile, coyly.

"Thanks," She muttered.

"No problem," Was his muttered reply. Suddenly, a snowball went sailing over their heads, just skidding between the two.

Rai turned and glared at the genin, "Alright, who did that!" She yelled angrily. Naruto hid the snowball, which was in his right hand, behind his back under the cloak and pointed to Sasuke, who was to his left. Sasuke looked at Naruto then jerked his head back and snapped his head to the two adults and back. "Naruto…" She growled through clenched teeth.

Naruto brought his pointing hand back and scratched his head with it, making sure to drop the snowball. "Heh, heh, heh… Sorry, I got-" He got a face full of snow.

"Nice," Kakashi stated to Rai, who had thrown the snowball, while he tossed another one in the air with his right hand. Both were now standing. "Now, it's my turn." He threw the snowball at the genin.

"Look out!" Sasuke called out and they all scattered and hid.

"Oh, dear," Rai sighed, playfully, "They're all hiding…" She glanced at Kakashi. He knew what she was thinking. The snowball fight lasted for about an hour.

The snow disappeared by the ninth day.


	34. Chunin Exam Prelims

Then… came the preparation for the Chunin Exams. Rai tried to stay away from the squad as much as possible during their training, as not to distract them. She'd watch them from a safe distance, monitoring their growth and what they needed to work on. Then, came the exams. Tension grew in the air as ninja from neighboring counties infiltrated Konoha. All the Okamis and animals were on their toes, hiding and watching the new comers, watching for any sign of hostility towards the country. Several groups caught the demons' attention. A group from the sand and a group from the grass, but there were four people the wolves didn't recognize. They were from the sound village. The wolves watched them constantly. Rai began to warn some of the proctors and Jonin about the groups. However, like always, nobody listened to her and just brushed it off their shoulders. They only ones to take them into consideration were Genma, Hayate, and Anko, Ibiki didn't show any interest, like he normally does, but he is always on his toes.

For the first test, she was assigned to scout the perimeter, making sure nobody gets in or out. As for the next test, she was to monitor the Forest of Death and to keep an eye on the groups. As she feared, the grass group had vanished.

For the Preliminary rounds, she stayed outside, like the obedient "dog" she was, guarding the place under rigid surveillance. The first round had begun; she could hear movement and talking through the thick doors. Suddenly a pungent smell hit her nose. Her stomach began to growl and her mouth began to salivate. She opened and closed her mouth several times, moving her tongue along the roof of her mouth, tasting it. "Rai," She yelled at herself, in a whisper. "What is the matter with you? It's just blood! Even though you haven't eaten in five days…" She drawled out the last sentence. She sighed and laid down, head on her paws. She heard rustling from a bush in front of her. She jerked her head up and growled at it. It was Iruka, who came out of the bushes with something in his hand.

"Hey," He simply stated, "I thought you'd be hungry." With that, she stopped growling, but her stomach answered for her. Iruka chuckled slightly. He walked over and set a bowl in front of her, and sat down next to her on her right. Rai looked at the bowl; it had chicken coated in some sauce on top of rice. She sniffed it, and began to eat it.

'So good!' She thought, and her tummy was happy.

"So how are the prelims going?" He asked after she started to eat.

Rai swallowed, "Good, Sasuke won and…" She perked up her right ear to listen very closely. "So did Naruto!" She stated in shock.

"He did! That's great!" Iruka beamed a smile and almost jumped to his feet, but he stayed seated.

She switched ears, "Now they're on… Lee and… Gaara?" She questioned. She looked over at Iruka. He shrugged. She suddenly froze, staring straight ahead. Her fur began to bristle along her stiff body. Iruka saw her freeze out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to look at her, "Rai?" He called her name. She slowly lowered her head, shadows casting over her eyes. Iruka's heart started to beat a little faster, though he tried to remain calm, "Rai?" A low rumble emanated from the wolf sitting next to him. Her lip began to rise, baring sharp white teeth for shredding. Iruka glanced back and up at the tower behind them, 'Something must be going on in there that triggered Rai's senses.' He thought. He turned back to the wolf and scooted away a little, uncomfortable at the close distance and not wanting to be bitten. As minutes passed, loud explosions could be heard and Rai's snarls got louder and louder to the point, she opened her mouth as if the fight was right there in front of her. Rai's senses were going haywire. Her nose filling with the scent of blood, her throat emanating rumbles, her ears filled with explosions, her body stiff with this familiar feeling seeping from the tower of hatred, and her mind racing. "Rai," Iruka's voice was stern. Rai's head snapped to him, her eyes shown red and her snarl directed at him! Iruka's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, whipping out a kunai. "Rai, take it easy! It's me!" His teacher tone was coming out. Rai stood up and turned to align her body with his. Her head at shoulder level, her tail held high and her muscles ready to pounce. She snarled at him. There was another explosion; Rai's ears flicked to the thick metal doors. She turned and looked at it, growling. She then did the unthinkable! She bolted and rammed her shoulder against the door, backed up, jumped and rammed it again. BANG, BANG, BANG! Repeatedly, she ran into the metal doors, causing dents to form. "Rai, stop!" Iruka shouted to her.

"I must get in there," A voice came from Rai's form, but it wasn't her own. It was a mixture of low and her regular tone. She charged the door several more times. BANG! She skidded back, "I must protect them!" BANG! Rai's eyes flashed from red to brown and back. BANG! "I must annihilate the threat!" BANG! She rammed it so many times that there were divots in the ground from her claws. Finally, to poor door gave up and gave way to the unyielding wolf. She bolted in, staying in the shadows, as she was trained to do.

"Rai!" Iruka called out after her. Rai ran past the security systems, dodging them, until she came to the arena. She stayed pressed up against the wall with the shadows, watching what was happening. As she thought, it was one of the people from the sand, the red headed boy with the gourd on his back. With all the noise of the battle unfolding in front of her, she growled to herself. She glanced around the stadium; she saw three other sand ninja looking really scared and worried. She saw Gai death gripping the metal rail in front of him and Kakashi looking as calm as ever. Good, no one had noticed her. She slowly laid down, in a crouching position. As the fight drew nearer to her, her muscles tensed, her growls became slightly louder. The sand drew back for its final attack; she was ready to pounce, when Gai jumped in between the two young ones.

"That's enough," Gai stated. Rai froze, thinking Gai had sensed her. She lay as flat as she could against the cool floor. She laid there for who knows how long, but she silently sat up and remained so still and quiet, that the red haired sand ninja walked a mere meter away from her and didn't even notice her. Even the medics rushed past her without knowing. As more and more Shinobi gathered and rushed past her, she felt her visit was overdue and began to retreat, or else she was bound to be found. Even with all the ruckus going on, she managed to sneak out unnoticed, or to what she thought. Two snake like eyes followed the grey wolf's leave.

He sneered to himself, 'So, the princess has returned.' He thought.

As Rai returned to her post, Iruka was gone, nowhere to be seen, and even the bowl was gone! Rai's stomach grumbled at her for letting a meal escape. Rai sighed and laid down in front of the doors. The battles ended, and the presence of the Shinobi began to come closer to the door. Rai stood up straight and proud. The groups of the people who were still whole and walking left the building. Occasionally, a Jonin would pat Rai's head as they walked by. The Hokage was the last one out, and he patted her head. Rai looked through the doors. Kakashi and that Sound Jonin hadn't come out. She whined. "He left to go do something, Rai." The old man assured, crouching down to be face to face with the whining grey wolf. "You were expecting him to come out and greet you, weren't you?" He smiled, "Well, I'm here." He patted her head again and stood up. "Come, take a walk with me." They walked out of the Forest of Death, through the gates leading into the village, past the training grounds, and to the edge of the woods. "It's been a while," He stated.

"Yes it has," Rai responded.

"How are Naruka and the others?" He asked glancing at her.

"They're good." She replied.

The Hokage glanced down at her, "Come out of that silly form of yours and let me see your smiling face." He stopped and turned to the wolf. Rai stopped, too. She sighed and morphed into her regular self. "That's better." He stated, "My, you're looking more and more like your mother every day."

"Heh heh…" Rai chuckled, embarrassed, scratching the back of her head. "I don't really resemble her that much…"

"Ah, but you do!" The Hokage stated before turning to the lake in front of them.

"But, Koishii had black hair," Rai stated, walking up beside the old man.

"I know that," He stated with a small chuckle. "Even though I'm an old man, I never forget a pretty face." Rai crouched down to look at the water's edge, hugging her knees to her chest. It was true; she did have features of her mother, her large brown eyes, pale skin, the shape of her face and her long hair. She also had her mother's long arms and slender legs. She did look like her mother, if she studied herself very hard. "Don't feel embarrassed, Rai," The Hokage stated. "It's only natural; we take on physical features of our parents."

"I know…" Rai sighed. "I just wish she was still alive."

"Even if she was, I know she'd be very proud of you." The Hokage assured. Rai smiled meekly. Just then, a familiar hand gently fell on her right shoulder. She looked at the lake's reflection and it was Kakashi. She just slid her left hand up and placed in on his.

"And I'm proud of you, too." Kakashi stated.

"We're all proud of you," The Hokage said.

"Thank you," Rai whispered and squeezed Kakashi's hand slightly. She felt Kakashi's form tense slightly as he slipped hand out from under hers.

"I need to go check something, be right back." He vanished in a puff of smoke. Rai sighed and stood up.

"Oh, that reminds me," The Hokage stated, gathering Rai's attention. "Genma has learned a new jutsu you might like. So go ask him about it." He stated smiling. "And there are several missions that you might be interested in…" He turned and began to walk back to the village.

"Thanks, I will look into it." Rai stated with a small smile.


	35. Just A Child

After a few weeks of chasing Genma around the village, Rai finally cornered him on his break between meetings about the Chunin Exams. He said it was called, 'Reiki Ryu', or 'Dragon Aura.' He's still working out the glitches in the jutsu, but it is basically visible chakra concentrated into a small beam of light, it can be as powerful as the amount of chakra put into it, and aiming it at a vital point on the body, it can immediately become fatal. Genma had shown Rai what a certain amount of charka could do.

"The more distance, the more chakra you need to put into it. It becomes weaker over the distance, so it is more of a close-medium range combat technique." Genma told her after he did a small demonstration. "And with every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction," Genma restated the famous Law of Physics. When a certain amount of chakra was pushed into the beam, more than the user's weight, they would be pushed back by the power. Genma explained this to Rai. Genma gave another demonstration, though he dug his feet into the ground, he was pushed back almost a good meter; this was only one of the glitches that he was talking about.

After a few practice rounds with him, Genma had to leave, but Rai, being her stubborn and determined self, continued to work on the jutsu. Rai took off her konoha and let it hang around her neck. She regained her breath and wiped the sweat from her brow. She muttered to herself while she made the hand signs, "Of the dragon, dog, boar, hare, ram…" She paused and took in a deep breath and let it out. She made the sign of the bird, aiming the center at her target. She concentrated on the target, building up her chakra. "Reiki Ryu, Release!" She demanded. A small beam appeared, not even for several seconds before shorting out and disappearing. A pulse mark formed on her temple. She gritted her teeth and growled a bit. She did the hands signs repeatedly for roughly ten minutes, or less. She got frustrated. "Okay, that's it!" Rai spat. She got into a stable horse stance and vigorously formed the hand signs again. Once she hit the sign of the bird, a symbol appeared on her forehead, it looked like the Hiragana symbol for Chi. "Reiki Ryu," Rai yelled, once she felt the burning sensation of her chakra flowing through her, "Release!" As she stated that, crimson symbols quickly appeared and slithered down her arms to her hands, her back around to her front, down her torso and legs, and forced the chakra our from her hands into a beam.

The beam was bigger than she expected, it completely obliterated the target and forced her dug feet back about a meter plus a half. When she tried to release the jutsu, the beam imploded and caused an explosion. Rai was sent flying backwards and crashed into a body some odd meters away.

Asuma had been training Shikamaru nearby and heard the ruckus. The next thing he knew, there was an explosion behind him and he bolted to it without even thinking. He saw the plume of smoke over the trees and wasn't able to see a figure fly towards him. It collided with him and he caught it and skidded back about several meters. "What the?" Asuma stated as he glanced down at the limp form of Rai. Rai squeezed her eyes as she tried to regain consciousness. Rai opened her eyes and looked up.

"Ade?" She muttered to herself in confusion. Asuma looked down at her, equally confused. She squirmed and stood up, her hitai-ate falling from her neck. Asuma helped her balance herself.

"Are you alright?" He asked her. Rai held her head with her left hand.

"Yeah, I think so…" She glanced at her arm; her symbols began to fade away into nothing but her bare skin. She bent down and picked up her konoha.

"Are you sure?" Asuma asked, "That was a pretty nasty explosion." Asuma glanced in the direction where Rai had come from.

"I'm fine," Rai assured with a big smile, "Really!" She closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and walked away, as if nothing happened. Asuma stood there, scratching his head in mass confusion.

Later, Asuma told Kakashi about what had happened in the forest. Kakashi had a sneaking suspicion he knew who it was who taught Rai. So, he hunted down Genma in the missions room and confronted him. "Why did you teach her something like that?" Kakashi growled at Genma.

"She kept nagging me until I showed her," Genma sighed. "I couldn't get her to leave me alone." Genma looked up at the glaring man in front of him.

"And you still showed her?" Kakashi's voice raised slightly. He let out a breath. "How new is this jutsu?" He asked in a calm tone.

"There's a few bugs that need to be worked out, but that's basically it." Genma assured Kakashi. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?" He questioned.

"Basically," Genma shrugged. He looked to his right.

"No… Explosions?" Kakashi interrogated the poor Chunin.

Genma jerked his head back slightly, "Explosions? What?" He was surprised at this question. "Only if it's unstable," Genma explained, gesturing with his hand.

Kakashi almost stumbled over. "Baka! Idiot!" Kakashi could have knocked the senbon chewing Chunin out cold. He leaned forward and raged at him, "You, of all people, should know what she can do, and that she has an unstable control of her chakra!" Kakashi scolded. Rai had just rounded the corner and moved to the doorway of the room. "She's just a child! You can't teach her a dangerous move like that until she's able to control herself!" Kakashi glared at Genma, who glanced over Kakashi's left shoulder to see Rai standing in the door way, scared, confused, sad, and angry. Kakashi let out a breath and turned to see what Genma was looking at. "Rai…" Kakashi was in slight shock. He was caught off guard. "I didn't mean what I-" He stuttered.

"That I'm a child?" Rai asked. There was a bit of uncomfortable silence. "Is that what you think of me as? A child?" She raised her voice slightly.

"No, Rai it came out wrong." Kakashi tried to assure her.

"It didn't sound wrong to me." Rai glared at him. She turned the way she came and left.

"Rai wait!" Kakashi bolted to the door to catch her. He got to the door and looked to his left, but she was gone. "Awe, great…" He cursed to himself.

Rai had been sitting by the edge of the lake, staring out over the ripples. A presence came and stopped right behind her. "Listen… That didn't come out right…" It was Kakashi's voice. "I honestly wasn't thinking…"

Rai scuffed, "No, duh."

"I didn't mean what I said." There was a pause.

Rai lowered her eyes, "Is that really what you think of me?" Rai asked. She glanced over her right shoulder, "A kid?"

This knocked Kakashi off guard, "What? No I-"

"Is that all I am to you? Another mission, an assignment… a nothing…"

"No Rai…" He explained softly. He crouched down beside her, "You're not a nothing to me. You're my friend… my lifelong friend." He put an assuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm here for you." Rai glanced at him. "And I hope you're here for me too." Rai smiled slightly.

"I hope this doesn't ruin our friendship." Rai stated.

"It won't… It's just another bumpy road we had to take." Kakashi smiled. Rai smiled back. Rai turned and faced the lake.

After several minutes of silence, she spoke, "Hey Kakashi." He looked over to her. Do you remember when the Nikkei attacked us?"

"Yeah…" Kakashi recalled, "What about it?"

"Something they said stuck out as they were retreating." Rai stated, biting her lip.

"And what would that be?" He asked.

"They said, 'Master won't like this'…" Rai stated, "That bugs me for some reason." Rai shifted at the awkward feeling that crept through her stomach when she remembered.

Kakashi gazed out over the lake in thought. "Do you think they could possibly mean Nikkei?" Kakashi inquired.

"Maybe," Rai shrugged. "It's just I have a bad feeling about that."

"Well, as long as it doesn't concern you, then don't worry about it." Kakashi turned to her and smiled. Rai looked at him over her shoulder and his hand. She smiled. "Oh, yeah," Kakashi patted Rai's shoulder before standing up. "That reminds me, while I'm gone, could you watch over Sasuke for me?"

Rai shrugged, "Sure." She sat there, watching the lake, while Kakashi turned and walked away.


	36. Hospital Training

Rai gained her post by lying on the right side floor next to Sasuke's recovering body. She'd monitor him closely as one nurse walked in and changed the IVs. Rai wouldn't let anything happen to her master's student. The nurse felt eyes boring into her, so she tried to be quick and get out of there before the dog decided to do something to her. When the daytime hospital staff went home for the night and less commotion was going on, Rai would tend to Sasuke herself. She unwrapped his wounds and examined them, before she cleaned them, properly with herbs she'd brought, and she'd bite her thumb and traced her blood over his wounds, healing them. She tended to the severe wounds first: his chest, vital organs, and vital veins and arteries. She did this every several days, not all at once, or else the hospital staff would go off on a tangent and go crazy with how quickly he was healing. The next few weeks the nurse changed the bandage less and less often, not really noting how fast he was healing, especially where some wounds should have left scars. 'Wow, how dumb can humans be?' Rai asked herself, a sweat drop forming on her temple as the nurse walked out of the room. When the few weeks had passed and Sasuke was off oxygen, Rai got worried. Kakashi hadn't returned as he'd promised. Rai got very antsy because of how vulnerable of a state he was in. The nurse had walked out not even ten minutes ago when a figure came up to the door. This caught Rai's attention; she aligned herself with the door. She lay crouched, ready to pounce on the person, her ears up and listening, and her body tense. She was ready when the person would open the door, she would leap onto them.

She heard the lock click and the door slid open. Rai's ears went back and she sprang from her crouched position and soundlessly lunged at the unsuspecting figure. It was Kakashi; he let out a slight gasp as he saw Rai's form lunge for him. Rai landed on his chest and sent him flying across the hall, smashing into the other wall, and slid down to the floor, with Rai on top of him. The nurses and doctors jumped, some dropping the items they were carrying, and stared in shock. "Rai…" Kakashi whispered harshly.

Rai gave her doggy smile, more embarrassed than happy, ears back and tail down, "Heh, heh…" She giggled nervously. "Oops…" She gave a small shrug, before she jumped off him. Kakashi stood up and brushed himself off. He gave a mocking glance to Rai; she'd give him a nervous doggy smile with her ears back.

"Listen," Kakashi stated as they walked into Sasuke's room, closing the door. "We need Sasuke to heal quickly…" Kakashi walked over to Sasuke. "Can you do that for me?"

"Already on it," Rai smiled.

For the next month before the Chunin Exam, Kakashi and Sasuke trained hard, while Rai napped and randomly joined in. Rai was sprawled out in the shade of the boulder she lay next to. It was so hot and dry up here, she cursed to herself for not bringing enough water. How she hated the heat, well it wasn't so much the heat at it was the humidity she hated. There was an explosion. Rai opened her eyes a little to see what was going on. Sasuke stood there panting heavily, while Kakashi stood there as if nothing happened. "Come at me again, this time, don't hold back." Rai went to close her eyes when something, like a dust particle went up her nose and caused her to sneeze. She shook her head side to side after she sneezed. She went to lay her head down when something caught her senses. She lay her head down and acted as if she didn't notice, but she was intently watching the large boulder on her left. Something felt off, and something sounded off, almost like running water? Rai cocked an eyebrow and perked one ear up to listen closer when dull smell of earth hit her nose, with a hint of a pungent odor. Rai stretched her front paws out in front of her, bringing her head up high and staring at the landmark. A low rumble emitted from her throat. Kakashi noted this and glanced at the rock.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked them. Rai stood up and began to walk in between them and the rock.

"I know you're there, come out!" Kakashi demanded. The red haired sand ninja walked out from behind the rock. Rai growled, head low, hair bristling, and teeth bared. "What do you want?" Kakashi asked, turning square to the boy. The boy just sneered as sand poured itself back into the gourd upon his back. Rai snarled, tossing her head and glaring at the boy. Sasuke glared at the boy. The boy had this glint in his eye that Rai found eerily familiar and didn't like. He chuckled to himself. Rai had seen this boy in action and wasn't going to take any chances with him, but if she had to she would protect Sasuke and Kakashi with her life. She made the first move, she lunged at him and the sand came up like a hand, grabbing her and throwing her back. Rai crashed into a boulder behind Kakashi. Kakashi blocked his face with one hand and squinted through the dust and debris. Sasuke watched Rai in horror and wide eyed. The sand slithered back from her form and she stood up. She rolled her head and moved her body, creating sick popping sounds of bone. She stood and glared to her left at the boy.

The boy smirked at Rai, "So, I see you own a demon." He stated to Kakashi. Rai snarled viciously at him, she hated being called the race of her father. She charged and the sand lunged. She dodged the sands attacks several times before it finally caught her. It held her flailing body up as it crushed her. CRACK! Blood spilt from her mouth and dripped onto the sand. It shrieked as the crimson liquid hit, the blood of its own kind. The boy held his head and yelled out in pain. The sand threw Rai's body away and quickly slipped back into the gourd. The boy's scream turned into a grunt and heavy breathing. Once he regained his breath, he retreated as quickly as the sand did.

Once the boy was gone, Sasuke dashed over to Rai's body, "Rai-sama, are you alright?" He asked the wolf.

Rai groaned as her body began to mend itself. "Ignore me…" Rai took in a slightly painful breath, "Get back to training…" Rai closed her eyes and let her body heal itself. Sasuke nodded and continued training with Kakashi. Rai went home once the moon was high in the sky, to prepare for an upcoming mission the Hokage assigned to her specially. This mission would take her away from her home for about two weeks, the only two weeks before the exams.


	37. Animal Talk

Rai ate and slept constantly so she could carry out the mission as quickly as possible and return home for the exams. Rai was in her ANBU uniform, clipping on the final attachments to her belt, when she heard her mother's voice, "Be careful, Rai." Rai turned to look behind her. She walked to the large wolf and encircled her arms around her large neck. Naruka tucked her head, pulling Rai closer to her.

"I will…" Rai stated into the soft fur. Naruka loosened her grip and let Rai slip out of her grasp. Rai scratched each Okami's head as she walked past them to the cave entrance. "I'll be back soon." She stated into the cave before she leapt into the trees, beginning her mission.

During her entire mission in the north, she had a strange and eerie feeling that she was being watched or followed. She'd keep glancing around when that feeling got strong, and take in whiffs of air, but there was nothing. She had caught up with some members of the Aiota clan, a sister clan to the Okami. Aiotas are known for their speed and friendliness, though they are shy, and their beautiful blonde gold coats. Unlike the Okami, the villages that the Aiota guard allow them into the villages and they help with farming, baby sitting, running messages from town to town, and with missions. Three of the Aiota met up with Rai: Ami, Haji, and Akita. "What's the report?" Rai asked as she jumped down from the tree. She sounded slightly out of breath.

One of the two females, Akita, replied, "We won't know until we get there." Rai looked at Akita and nodded. Akita was one of the top ranking in the Aiota, besides Aiota herself. She is like Megami of the Okami. Akita had piercing green brown eyes like her mother that blended well with her coat, making her look exotic. They took off to meet up with the majority of the Nekko clan. The Nekko looks like a small fox like creature, with big ears, small paws and muzzle, and a bushy tail like a fox, only they are actually small wolves. Now, unlike the Okami, Nikkei, and Aiota, the Nekko actually have a variety of colors, but it is mostly a sand color, while some are dusty grey, red, or brown.

"Yuzu, what's up?" Rai asked a small fox like creature. Yuzu was one of those dark dusty grey Nekko. She looked up at Rai.

"There has been a lot of random and unprovoked demon attacks along the country's borders." Yuzu explained with her little mouth moving. Suddenly, a large bird of prey landed on a branch nearby.

"We've had several scouts check them out." Haro stated, another Nekko, when Rai looked at the bird, then back to him. Haro was one of the common Nekko, the sand color. He came and sat next to Yuzu. Rai swears they look exactly like fennec foxes, except with slightly smaller ears.

"How does it look, Misato?" Yuzu called out to the large golden eagle. She raised her left front paw, as if it helped her to reach a taller height and louder volume.

"It's been unusually quiet. No travelers have passed within the last several hours." The smooth voice stated. It seemed like the forest came alive with rustling bushes and animals of all kinds began to congregate around Rai in a large circle. There were cats, dogs, and farm animals from nearby villages, squirrels, raccoons, birds, chipmunks, rabbits, stags and does, a cougar, a lynx, and a bear. Almost every type of woodland creature was there in the circle around Rai. They all came to share their news. One stag proclaimed, stamping his hoof, that the bloodshed ruined a valuable watering hole with toxin and blood. A dove stated that her and her friend's tree was knocked down during a fight. Several raccoons chatted about some people who made a mess and the food that was left over was pretty good. They all began to talk at once. Rai's head jerked quickly from animal to animal, trying to make sense of their babbling.

"… a circle made of chalk with symbols," caught Rai's ear.

"What did you say about symbols?" Rai turned to the jittery chipmunk and tail-flicking squirrel.

The chipmunk scampered up onto a nearby rock so Rai could see him, "Some men were drawing symbols with chalk on the ground." The chipmunk stated, standing on his hind tiptoes and quivering his nose. The squirrel jumped up next to him on the rock.

"They also had some weird markings on the trees," The squirrel stated, also on his hind legs and flicking his tail.

"They even had some weird symbols on their foreheads," cooed an owl. The lynx attested to that.

Rai curled her index finger around her chin, thinking. "Well, for now, we'll just have to keep an eye on those people and the demons." She glanced at the bird of prey. "Patrol your neck of the woods, report if anything suspicious happens." She looked around the circle. "We'll patrol the borders for others. Everyone keep your eyes open and ears pealed for anything odd."

"How will we know where to find them? Sometimes they just pop up out of nowhere!" A dog stated.

"Just get word to Rai as soon as possible," purred the panther, which lay in a tree, curling the end of her tail.

"Just do what you believe is best and get word to me as soon as possible," Rai stated. The animals all nodded in agreement. "Good, now scatter!" Rai said, and they all took off.


	38. Infiltration of the Leaf! Okami Attack!

Two weeks later…

Everyone crowded into Konohagakure. The symbols, people with symbols, and demon attacks suddenly ceased to exist. Rai had an awkward feeling when this happened that it might have been a neighboring country, but now since Konoha was on high alert, they had to stop during this time of 'peace'. She headed back home after everything seemed to come to a very sudden stop. Something caught her nose, a scent that shouldn't have been there, a scent of old paper and sweat. Misato flew onto a nearby branch, causing Rai to stop her journey home, temporarily. "Rai-sama, things do not look good up ahead." Rai felt a familiar presence rise from the forest in front of her. Tsude, Tsume, and Megami ran towards her on the path.

"Rai," Megami shouted as they stopped.

"We've got trouble." Tsume stated for her. And trouble there was, Rai had run to a nearby cliff to scope out the land. She saw three summoning circles around the village's walls.

"That's not good," Rai stated, monotone. "Get all the Okami together, except mother." She demanded of her siblings. They raced off in different directions, as for Rai she took off to the furthest summoning circle. Once they were gathered, she explained their objective; to surround the sight, attack it, and not let anyone or thing escape. "Be silent and deadly, one at a time," Rai stated before they broke off to their positions, she changed into her wolf form. The Okamis smiled with enjoyment, oh how they loved this part of their job! They all kept low and in the shadows, picking off the victims one by one, as they approached the summoning sight. They were soundless and picked them off from the very back. The line was down to five members as it entered the summoning sight. The leader turned, he tsked, thinking they all wimped out. The Okami made sure the corpses were good and dead before burying them quickly. After that, they slunk around and hid under the foliage around various spots of the circle. Rai had a shiver go up her spine and her fur stand on end, as she smelt blood and heard the words about a giant snake. At the signal, with ease, the four summoners were slaughtered, but the leader proved a bit of a challenge. Rai had chosen him as her target. She leapt at him; he blocked her attack and pushed her away.

"So, you're the wolf of Konoha?" The leader smirked. "Lord Orochimaru has told me about you." Rai snarled at this and lunged again, this time, Hachi and Kiori jumped into to kill their prey. Rai got the pleasure of clamping her jaws around the man's exposed neck and tearing out his pink and rubbery trachea, blood spurting from the ripped jugulars and carotids, silencing him, permanently. They moved onto the next summoning circle. This one was a little more difficult to destroy, so Rai had to turn into her human form. They made a lot of noise; surely they'd be noticed by something. By the time they were done, they began to head to the last circle. However, it was too late. A large three-headed serpent was summoned. The Okami stopped in their tracks and stared at it in awe as it attacked the wall. Suddenly, as if a tsunami was let loose, ninja from the sound and the sand began to flood the forest and infiltrate the walls.

"Okami!" Rai shouted, she gripped the handle of her sword on her back, "Let's teach 'em a lesson." She said with an evil smirk appearing on her face and her eyes flashing red quickly. The Okamis let out howls and barks of enjoyment and laughter as they charged off to fight. They all fought with vigor, they hadn't done this in an extremely long time, but their elemental wielding skills were superb. Flames, water, and lightning shooting out of their mouths, the ground moving to catch them, block them, or let enemies fall. They howled stirring up massive gusts of wind, blowing away the enemy. Some even had the elements enclose their bodies for attacks, as they ran flames or lightning would encase them. The flames would look like a flame ball; it would turn into a wolf form only when they would attack their target, looking like a wolf made of flames. The lightning would encase their bodies as well, causing them to move faster and strike with blazing speed and precision, except the lightning would still resemble a form of a wolf. Rai slashed away at her enemies with her sword, cutting them down with ease. When the ninja ceased coming, she yelled, "Okami! The village!" All the wolves finished off their last victims, snapping their necks or ripping out their throats, and took off to the village.

When they ran through the gate, Rai suddenly froze, she didn't like this feeling. She turned her head to the stadium, and there, on top of the Hokage's box, was a large purple box. Rai stared at it, wide eyed. "Rai, let's go!" Hige called out. Hachi actually had to push Rai to get her to move.

"Okami, spare them." She muttered, praying to her god. She then took off with Hachi. They ran through the city, seeing its mass destruction. Rai had to cover her nose at points because the stench of death that edged her demon side to come out. They headed towards the giant snake, wrong move. As her pack turned to the snake a shadow cast over them, Rai skidded to a halt and a giant blob landed on top of the snake in front of her and the pack, causing them to be blown back. When Rai opened her eyes and glared up at the blob, she saw that it was a toad and one of the legendary sanin stood atop it. He was saying something; Rai only caught bits and pieces. "My eyes are open and I'm looking, but I'm not liking what I'm seeing!" Rai threw him a rude comment. Jiraiya was yelling something but Rai had turned and was running away. The Okami came to a break; they were in the heart of the village. "Okami," Rai called to attention. She threw her left hand out, "Four to the left," she put her left hand down and threw out her right, "Four to the right, and three to the rear!" She put her hand back down. As she said there, the Okami broke off into their groups.

"Sister, what about you?" Chi asked her.

"I'm going north; I have some unfinished business to attend to." Rai stated before taking off. Chi took off with the group to the rear. Rai had been running around, slaying the enemy with her katana. She never stopped running, she just cut down the enemy in her path as she ran, and she jumped and landed, and kept running. The enemy fell where they stood. Rai had slid her katana into the sheath on her back and continued to run. She had this weird pang go right through her. She stopped and looked to the stadium, something felt off. She glared at it, 'I'll make my way there.' She thought before running off.

The Okami all felt it too. Most of them were guiding people to safety, when they felt it, their heads snapped to the stadium as well. They looked at each other. "Iruka!" Iruka turned to see several wolves approach him with people behind them.

"Chi?" Iruka questioned, "What are you guys doing here?" He noted the people behind them, "Oh, thank you so much."

"We're here to help," Kiori stated. Hige nodded.

"Good," Iruka looked around, "because we need it."

Later, Rai noticed that the purple box was gone. She stopped her tracking and headed straight for the stadium. She bolted through the entrance and jumped up the stairs to the pews. She ran in, she saw people, lots of them. She froze and began to fear that they'd notice her, but when she inspected closer, they were all asleep. She exhaled a sigh of relief then looked around for Kakashi. She sniffed the air and he was nearby. She ran to her right, and grabbed the bar that was at her waist and leaned forward to look up. The Hokage's seat. Rai glared before jumping up on the bar and jumping to the roof. She ran up the shingles and stopped on a flat surface when she saw everyone. She ran up to them and slowed down, pushing her way between them. "Excuse me… Excuse me… Sorry, sorry, sorry, excuse me…" She was constantly saying as she wiggled her way through the ever-growing crowd. She felt something snag her. She stopped and turned to see Kurenai. She had a hand on Rai's shoulder. She shook her head and pointed to the right. Rai followed her finger to Kakashi's form. She nodded to Kurenai and turned and trotted to him. "Kakashi," She whispered as she came up to him, "you alright?" He glanced at her then to the front of the circle, where he was looking before. Rai looked, all she saw was people. "Curse it for being so short." She muttered to herself. She stood on her tiptoes to try to take a glance. 'Darn it can't see.' She grumbled. She began to worm her way through the crowd. Her nose caught the stench of blood and death. How could she not have noticed this before? This only made her wiggle through the crowd faster. She was one row from the front and she glanced over the shoulders of some Jonin and gasped. "Sarutobi-sensei…" She muttered then pushed the Jonin out of the way. She stumbled over and regained her balance before collapsing to her knees next to the Hokage's body. She noticed he was smiling, it kind of relaxed her but she was still in shock. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "No." Rai shook her head, "No! This can't be right! Sarutobi-sensei! You can't be dead!" She leaned over and grabbed some of his clothing. She placed and ear to his chest, nothing. She sat up and shook his body. "No don't do this lord Hokage! The village needs you! The Okami need you!"

"That's enough Rai," Genma said as he reached his hand to place on her shoulder. Rai smacked it away, glaring back at him. Genma flinched.

"Rai…" Kakashi warned sternly. Soon, two Jonin had to carry her away. She kept screaming, "Let me go! Put me down you bastards! Put, Me, Down! No! Stop!" She fought, kicked, and tried to bite them, to no avail. Rai was crouched by the lake's side, hugging her knees to her chest, arms on top, blocking her mouth. She looked over the lake. She looked so small, so helpless, though she was still in her ANBU costume. Someone's feet scuffed to a halt just to behind her to her right. "He's gone…" Her shaking voice stated to the person. "He's really gone…" Her voice drifted off in thought. "Why did he have to die?"

"But he didn't go in vain." The man's voice stated. "He died doing what he's supposed to do. He's the Hokage. He's supposed to protect the village." Rai didn't respond but looked to her left. "Rai, I know you don't cope well with death, but you have to move on. It's life."

Rai muttered, "The Okami are not going to like this. They're going to be devastated." There was silence, a breeze picked up and tossed Rai's hair around. It also caught petals and leaves and caused them to dance and twist over the lake.


	39. Hokage's Funeral

The Hokage's funeral was on a cloudy day, small rain showers drizzled the city. Everyone attended. Sakura glanced around, "Hey, where's Rai-sama?" Naruto glanced around and shrugged, looking over his shoulder at her. Everyone walked up to the photos and gave white roses to the memorial. It began to rain as the last row of people placed their flowers, prayed, and bowed to the men and women who lost their lives defending the village. The bells began to ring as the last person moved to their spot. They all stood in silence and sorrow. Iruka looked down at Konohamaru, who was crying, and placed a hand on the child's shoulder. The bells died down, but everybody remained silent and still. There were ticking sounds and small splashes that emanated from down one of the main streets. It grew closer and closer to the funeral. People in the street parted all the way up to the steps to the funeral.

On the top of the building, the two groups stood there, hearing the ticking and splashing, some turned to the stairs. Suddenly, Okamis began to trot or briskly walk between the two groups. One after the other they came up the stairs until Rai and Naruka crested the stairs and walked beside each other towards the memorial. Rai was wearing a black long sleeve shirt and a black skirt like the other kunoichi at the funeral. Rai carried a bouquet of flowers in her arms with little red dots in the center of each of the white roses. People followed Rai and Naruka with their eyes as they approached the end of isle. "Hey, Iruka-sensei," Naruto whispered to his sensei next to him, "What's that red stuff?"

Iruka looked up from Konohamaru and glanced at the roses, "Blood. Okami blood," He cleared up. "Each flower has a different Okami's blood on it from the pack, including Rai's." He explained to Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at him slightly confused. "I find that kind of odd." He crossed his arms.

"It's a symbol of blood spilt and the pact that they share with the Hokage." Iruka explained, "Remember?" Iruka glanced at Naruto. They had this conversation before about the pact. Hopefully, he remembered something about it.

"Oh, yeah," Naruto sighed, remembering. The Okami moved into a slight crescent, facing the memorial, standing, sitting, or laying. Naruka stopped dead center of the crescent while Rai continued to walk and placed the flowers on the table. She took a step back and bowed deeply. She turned on her heels and walked back behind Naruka.

Naruka sat down heavily, "Well, Sarutobi…" Her voice sang, "I guess this is it." The rain let up to a soft drizzle, speckling the Okami's coats. Their coats were already dripping from the rain, yet they didn't seem to care. It ran down their faces, off their noses, and off the ends of their fur. Rai had a solemn look on her face. No emotion what so ever crossed her face as she stared at the ground. "Heh, heh, heh…" Naruka chuckled to herself. "You definitely changed this ol' wolf's heart." She smiled slightly, "You had a gift of seeing through people; not just humans, but Rai and us as well. Your pact made it easier to live in peace and harmony with each other. Unfortunately, some people don't see it that way. You were a great man, Sarutobi, Okami bless your soul." The rain started up again, this time it was pouring buckets. Rai was brought back from her daze and looked up at the dark grey sky, 'Okami… are you crying?' She questioned her god with her mind. The rain fell onto Rai's face and cascaded down like tears, it was hard to tell if she really was crying or if it was just the rain. A whine crept into Naruka's throat, which turned into a howl. She turned her head up to the heavens. All the Okami joined in, pointing her heads to the sky and singing their hearts out. Rai closed her eyes listening to the beautiful melody. Many who heard the melody, closed their eyes or stood in amazement. Such pure notes coming from something said to be so vile. The song echoed off the Hokage's faces, streamed through the streets and over the whole village. The town listened in complete silence. The rain danced with the sound as if fell to the earth. They sang for only a minute, but it felt like forever. The song died down until only Naruka's voice remained, then subsided to a whimper, and stopped. The rain began to let up as the echo receded. Everybody stood there amazed and stunned.

Once everyone left, the Okami proceeded to leave as well. "Rai, are you coming?" Kiori asked her sister, looking behind her as she stopped on her way to the stairs.

"Hm? Yeah, I'll be right there." Rai stated over her shoulder. Kiori was the last one to begin descending the steps. Rai walked up closer to the memorial as she reached up the sleeve on her right arm. She pulled out a thick, foot long scroll that seemed old. "Thank you, sensei," Rai stated, holding the scroll in her right hand, placing her left hand flat on the end, like a knife hand, and bowing deeply. "For everything you've done." Rai stood up, stared at his picture for a while, then turned around and walked back home.


	40. Something's Not Right

Within the week, Rai had barely been spotted. However, when she was out, she was irritable and grouchy and in wolf form. When Rai had been out patrolling, she got a whiff of something that she found oddly familiar. She tracked it down to the river, and there she found Asuma and Kurenai with two others in black and red-clouded cloaks. 'Is that Itachi?' She asked herself. The fighting proceeded and Kakashi joined in. Once she saw Kakashi, she wagged her tail and was about to jump in when Kakashi grunted and fell over. She froze, what had happened? Gai suddenly popped in and that's when the two took off and when Rai leapt onto the river.

"Rai," Kurenai asked the dog as she approached her and Asuma. Rai looked at Kakashi's week body, then at Asuma's bleeding arm, and whined. Asuma smiled and assured Rai that he was going to be okay.

"See Rai," Gai stated, "everything's alright. We'll get Kakashi back on his feet soon." Gai smacked her back. Rai stiffened.

"If anything else happens to him," Rai snarled, "I'm coming after you, Gai." She turned and took off after the Akatsuki's scent. Rai knew the Akatsuki were better at retreating than just running along the river, but they would follow its path. Rai caught up to them quickly. She shadowed them in the woods and then lunged at them, snapping her jaws, and forcing them to jump back out onto the river. They continued to run, even on the river till Rai managed to gain ground and jump in front of them, tail held high, head low, and lip raised as she snarled at them. They skidded to a halt.

"Well, now…" The black haired man stated, "I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me…" He paused for a bit, starring at the growling wolf. "It's been a long time, now… hasn't it, Rai-sama?" Rai snarled and snapped her jaws at them.

"You know this mutt, Itachi?" The blue man, with the sword on his back, turned, and looked at the man next to him. Rai snarled again, slightly advancing forward.

Itachi stated simply, "She's Kakashi's." Rai still growled as they stood there, not moving. Rai sat down, tail stiff, ears forward and alert, lip down, but still growling.

The blue man smirked, grabbing his sword, swinging it from his back, up then down to point at Rai. "Then, there is no point in keeping her alive, now is there?" He was about to charge, when Itachi's voice stopped him.

"No, Kisame," He stated. "She's not a normal dog. You won't be able to defeat her so easily."

Kisame smirked to Itachi, "Awe, you're getting soft." He turned to Rai, "It's just a useless mutt. Nobody'll even know." He charged at Rai. Rai just sat there. Kisame swung his sword at Rai and she jumped over the sword. As she peaked in the air, she forced her body to go towards Kisame's stunned form. Kisame looked up, slightly stunned. Rai raised the left side of her lip and growled as she tried to pounce on Kisame. He dodged her attack from above. She landed on the water, not taking her eyes off the blue man. Kisame swung his blade at her again, and again, each time he missed.

Rai was getting tired of this and found an opening in his offense. Rai charged and rammed him in the stomach right after a swing of his massive blade. Kisame was thrown back, but flipped and caught himself on his feet and a free hand, skidding right past Itachi. Itachi sighed as he closed his eyes.

"Heh, smart mutt," Kisame hissed. Rai just sat down and calmly watched them.

"That's enough, Kisame." Itachi stated, "I'll handle this now. We're wasting too much time." Itachi opened his eyes, awakening his Sharingan. Rai stared blankly at him, straight on. She slightly cocked an eyebrow something was off. Itachi used the illusionary technique Tsukuyomi, the technique he used on Kakashi. Unlike him though, Rai wore heavy metal chains that almost made her immobile, not chained to a cross. The chains weighed almost as much as she did and were bolted to the ground. She could barely stand on her slightly shaking legs, drooping neck, and sagging back. Itachi suddenly appeared next to her, sword in hand. "Now, behold the true power of a Sharingan wielder, unlike your pitiful friend." Before Rai could let out a growl, she yelped as Itachi's sword went right through her side. Another sword punctured her side. Another slit her back left leg. More and more swords pierced her as this torture continued. After the seventh blow, she collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the weight of the chains and blows. Her eyes were screwed shut from the pain and gritted her teeth. Suddenly, the pain stopped. She focused on healing, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and glanced at her body. There were no wounds. She looked forward, confused, and then let out a yelp as the stabbing continued. She screwed her eyes shut. "It seems you're able to last longer than he can." Itachi mocked Rai. "But that's no surprise." The stabbing continued for what seemed like fifteen minutes.

Then, something snapped inside Rai's mind. She was able to open her blood red eyes, lunge at Itachi from the ground, and open her strong jaws, all without any burdens. The chains broke from their anchors and links clattered to the ground. Itachi jumped back and away from her, stunned. She was standing with ease, as if the chains weren't even there. "Let's see who's learned the new trick," a voice came from Rai, but it wasn't hers, it was low and coarse. She lunged at Itachi.

Itachi snapped them back to reality before Rai had time to pounce on him. He closed his eyes, and opened them, glaring slightly at Rai, Sharingan gone. Rai blinked several times before closing her eyes and shuttering slightly. She composed herself before glaring at Itachi. "Kisame, we're done here," Itachi stated over his shoulder.

"Right," Kisame stated as he place his sword on his shoulder. They disappeared. Rai sighed, sensing they were nowhere near her. She stood up and wobbled, but caught herself before she fell. She shook her head slightly before she ran back up river towards the town.


	41. Renewed Rivalry

As Rai walked through the halls of the building, Kakashi lived in; she rounded a corner, watching the ground going down the straight away to Kakashi's room on the left hand side. Suddenly, a black blur rushed past her right side. She stopped in midstride, looked up, ears forward, and then turned her head the way the blur ran, "Sasuke?" She knitted her brows together in slight and quick confusion before facing forward and continuing her journey to Kakashi's room. The door to his room was wide open; she walked into the open doorway and stopped. She looked around the room, stopping at to look at the three faces surrounding the room. Rai turned her attention to Kakashi, who lay on his bed. Rai walked in and went over to his bedside, placed her head next to his, her head was resting on the pillow that supported his head, and started to whine and wag her tail.

"It's no use Rai. He's out cold," Kurenai told her. Rai whined before lifting her head and pacing to the bottom corner of the bed and jumping on top of it. She walked over Kakashi's body and wedged herself between him and the wall. She lay down, laid her large head on his chest, and sighed, closing her eyes.

"Well, since Rai's here, we better leave," Asuma stated, feeling safe that Kakashi had someone to watch over him. The Jonin left, promising to check in on Rai early in the morning and right before they would go to bed. Rai had lost track of days, the small room was driving her crazy because she could not run about. Therefore, she referred to chasing her tail, a useless way to pass the time. She would paw at her tail with one large paw, once she caught it with her paw, she went after it with her mouth, but every time it managed to slip out from under her paw and pull away from her mouth. She finally wound up chasing it in a circle and stepping on it again in a slight hunch-sitting position. She would then grab it with her teeth and tried to stand up, wound up pulling herself in a circle, losing her grip and balance, and finding herself sprawled out on the ground with no tail in her mouth. She lay sprawled out on her side when the door made a faint click, she lifted her head to see whom it was. It was Kurenai and Sakura. Rai lay there as they walked in.

Kurenai took a seat in the desk chair, "You must have been bored." She stated, seeing the state of the rug and Rai's sprawled out body. "Being locked up in a small room for two days would drive me crazy. I'll take over till you've burned off some energy."

'Has it really been two full days?' Rai asked herself. Rai's tail thumped against the wooden floor. She briskly stood and trotted out the door with Sakura behind her. Sakura had brought along a ball. They went outside the walls, near the training fields, and Sakura began to throw the ball and Rai would go get it. They found a nice clearing by a small stream where they stopped and Sakura continued to throw the ball farther and farther. Rai sometimes waited for the ball to hit the ground before she whipped around to go and find it. After about an hour, Sakura was getting tired, and Rai had burned enough energy to not drive her crazy and tear up that small room. She lapped up water from the nearby stream and trotted over to Sakura who was waiting to go back into the village. Rai returned and walked over the bed, placing a cold nose on Kakashi's cheek, still nothing. She jumped back up on the bed, placing her front paws on his chest and resting her head on top of them.

A day or so passed, Rai wasn't sure, but Asuma had already come in to check on them in the morning. Rai snoozed lightly on Kakashi's warm chest. Her ear twitched and she opened her eyes a little; she heard some people in the building coming closer. She glanced to her left at Kakashi, who was still out of it, and then to the windows with the drapes drawn closed. It was still day out. Suddenly a smell she despised emanated from under the door. Rai was fully awake and jumped off the bed silently, head low and entire body aligned straight at the door, in a crouched stalking position. There was clicking and thumping on the other side of the door. Rai emitted a low warning growl as the talking and walking settled itself outside the door. The knob turned and a click sounded. The door began to open. Once the face of the blonde haired woman, who was opening the door, became visible, Rai lunged at the door, growling and snarling viciously. The woman gasped and slammed the door. Rai collided with the face of the door, she slid down until she reached the floor and scratched and growled at the door, she even let out several deep and vicious warning barks, warning the person on the other side not to enter or risk being attacked.

The warning barks and growls could be heard through the door as the blonde haired woman braced herself against the shaking door. "Geez, what the hell did Kakashi do? Get a guard dog while I was away?" She asked the people surrounding her. She stood there bracing the door until the growling died down. She stood up and turned to face the door. A growl could still be heard.

"Excuse me," Sakura squeezed in between the woman and the door and gently opened the door. The growl got even louder as the door opened more. Rai was now on the bed, front paws on Kakashi's chest and she growled as the group entered the room. She raised her lip every once in a while to keep them at bay, but her ears were forward and alert. As the blonde woman approached Kakashi, Rai raised her lip and began to vocalize her growl even more, slightly parting her sharp teeth. As she reached out to touch Kakashi's forehead, Rai's ears flicked back and she lunged for her hand, snapping her strong jaws.

She quickly pulled her hand back, "Relax, ya Mutt! I'm not going to hurt him." Rai growled through clenched teeth as she touched Kakashi's forehead. Rai growled at her, not taking her eyes off her. Kakashi grunted as the blonde haired woman pulled her hand away. Rai's attention snapped to Kakashi; she ceased growling, ears up and mouth slightly open, looking at Kakashi. He began to sit up; Rai sat up as he did. He placed his left hand on his head, and then opened his eye. He glanced at Rai, to his right, and then up at the blonde haired woman who glared at him. She scolded him; Rai got antsy and edgy and began to growl slightly.

"Sorry," was his groggy reply. Rai growled as that vile woman left with the group following Gai. Rai sneezed once they walked out the door and shut tight behind them. Rai looked at Kakashi, "Don't listen to her." She stated to him, "You did your best, and that's all we could ever ask for."

Kakashi sighed and looked down, "Yeah, but, I feel as if I didn't give it my all."

"At least you tried," Rai replied. Kakashi reached up and rubbed her head and then her ear. Rai closed her eyes, smiled and panted happily, leaning into his hand. Kakashi rolled over and began to fall asleep. Rai whined and pawed at his shoulder. When he didn't respond, she place a cold nose on his cheek. He grunted and batted the wolf's nose away with several flicks of his hand. Rai jumped over him and onto the ground and put her nose in his hand that was slightly off the bed. He rubbed her head and stroked her. Rai licked his hand a bit, and then lay down, waiting for his lazy strokes to stop and for him to fall asleep. She snuck out of the room after fifteen minutes. As Rai made her way through the village, many people glared at her or turned their backs, and avoided her as they walked. Many ninja ran back and forth, passing Rai. Rai tried her best to avoid them, but sometimes collided with them. Suddenly a scent caught her nose. She stopped, placing her nose to the ground and began tracking the scent. She was so out of it that she followed the scent into a building and up the stairs.

Shizune and Tonton were walking back to the Hokage's room, Shizune with books and stacks of papers in her hands. "Why do I even bother?" She sighed, "She should be doing this all herself, not have us lug this stuff around, right Tonton?" She asked the little pink pig.

"Oink!" He replied. Rai had her nose down on the carpet and walked around a corner. Shizune felt something furry and hard suddenly block her legs, and she fell forward, letting out a gasp. Rai yelped as she was kneed and Tonton took off, dodging the clatter of books and flutter of papers. Rai shook her head and stood up to shake her body.

"Awe man," Shizune complained. Tonton was already helping to push the books and pieces of paper into piles near Shizune. Rai sniffed as she watched Shizune with interest. Shizune stood back up with the slightly messy pile in her arms. She glanced at what she tripped over. "Hey, aren't you Kakashi's dog?" She asked Rai. Rai cocked her head slightly and then her nose twitched, she caught that scent again. Rai walked over to Shizune and sniffed her, no, it wasn't her. She tuned to the pink pig cowering behind her, which was the scent! She let out a growl, as did her stomach. "No no!" Shizune stated, stepping in front of Rai and Tonton. "He's not food." Rai looked up. "Come on, I'll get you something to eat." Shizune stated, turned, and walked away, Rai to her left and Tonton to her right. They came to a room that Rai found the scent appalling. She stayed outside as Shizune opened the door and walked in with Tonton. "Here you go, Lady Tsunade." Shizune's voice rang. Rai growled a bit. She poked her head around the corner of the door. Tsunade, the blonde haired woman, was sitting in the Hokage's desk! But was being blocked by Shizune and stacks of papers. Rai began to slink into the room. Tsunade glanced over Shizune's shoulder and glared, standing up. Rai froze.

"You Mutt! Get out of my room!" She yelled and threw kunai and a few throwing stars and other things that crashed and broke at Rai. Rai bolted out the door.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune yelled, "Why'd you do that? It's just a dog! It won't harm anyone!" Tsunade sat back down in the chair. "What has it ever done to you?"

"IT has done more grief and sorrow than you will ever know," Tsunade stated. Shizune stood there confused. She turned to look at Rai poking her head around the corner of the door. "That's not an ordinary dog, Shizune." Tsunade stated, "She's a demon." Horror washed over Shizune's face as she looked at Tsunade, she then looked over her shoulder at Rai.

"How could- But she's not-" She stumbled over her own words.

"Her father's Sankaku, or Makaigenshu." Tsunade stated, filling out papers. Shizune was shocked and went pale. Shivers ran through Rai's spine

"She seems so tame, so docile." Shizune said. She looked from Rai to Tsunade, surely she had to be joking.

"Well, she's not. She even turns on Kakashi." Tsunade stated, sternly. "Once a demon, always a demon," Shizune turned to look at Rai again, but she was nowhere to be seen.


	42. Blinded

Rai was sitting by the edge of the lake, in human form, knees pulled to her chest, left hand holding her konoha and right arm wrapped around her knees. She rests her chin on her knee and stares at her konoha. She tilts it slightly back and forth, the metal catching the sunlight. She holds it steady and looks at it, but her eyes are lost in thought. Her mind rushes through the past, when she had received this konoha from Kakashi, all the way up to the past several days. Once her mind finished the memories, she sighed, closing her eyes, and dropping her hand next to her, still holding her konoha. She opened them, glaring across the lake at the trees on the other bank. She shot up and placed her konoha in her pouch, behind her right hip, and took off at a dead run.

Several figures moved through the forest, judging by their scent, it was Kurenai, Asuma, and Raiden. Rai quickly caught up to them with several large bounds. "Hey, what's going on?" Rai asked as she bounded into the middle of the group. This startled the group slightly.

"Rai?" Kurenai asked as she faced the young woman. Rai's nose caught something vile. Suddenly, two figures appeared in the distance. Rai's attention snapped to them. Her eyes went wide suddenly and then glared at the two fleeing.

"Orochimaru…" Rai hissed. She sped up to catch the two.

"Rai, wait!" Asuma's common sense kicked in a little too late as he shouted to Rai who was already gone.

Kabuto glanced over his shoulder then back at Orochimaru, "It looks like we have a visitor."

"Good," Orochimaru sneered as he took a glance for himself over his right shoulder.

"Orochimaru!" Rai yelled, rage in her hoarse voice. Her teeth bared, eyes deadly, and the symbol on her forehead began to glow.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru stated, "Go keep our guest busy." Kabuto nodded and dropped back a bit. Rai glared at Kabuto as he approached her. Kabuto's hands began to glow blue as he drew near Rai and threw several punches at her. Rai dodged the punches and blocked one by his elbow. Her arm tingled and went numb, it felt weird, but she ignored it. Kabuto kept trying to stop her, but Rai had other plans. Rai jumped over Kabuto and kept pursuing Orochimaru. So to Rai, Kabuto was just a little obstacle slowing her from her real target. Kabuto groaned in annoyance and took chase after the half demon. Rai sprinted as fast as she could to catch up to the wicked man.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto yelled as Rai lunged at his back, "Watch out!" Rai lunged. Orochimaru shifted to the left, barely missing the attack. Rai turned and lunged at him. Orochimaru leapt over her and Rai turned to pursue him again. Rai had lost sight of him, but Kabuto was leading her straight to him. He disappeared into a dense part of the forest and Rai followed, finding Orochimaru standing there, looking cocky. Rai lunged at him, then felt someone roughly grab her arms. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at Kabuto. "You bastard," She growled.

"My, my," Kabuto stated, "such language." Rai's legs suddenly gave out when Kabuto hit them. She knelt on the ground glaring at Orochimaru.

"Now, now, calm down. This won't take long." Orochimaru sneered as he stepped closer to her. "You wouldn't want to keep your 'father' waiting forever now, would you?" Rai's eyes went wide.

"My… Fa.. Father?" she asked meekly.

"That's right," Orochimaru stated. "Why else would we have come back here for?" He kept coming closer, and suddenly the symbol on her forehead began to glow brightly.

"No, it's not possible." She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Yes, it is…" Orochimaru hissed. Rai looked up, eyes wide. Kabuto moved around from behind her to in front of her. He took two fingers and placed it on the mark glowing on her forehead. Rai's eyes went a little wider then shut tight. A burning sensation rushed over her as the red symbols danced along her skin.

"No," She whimpered. Visions flashed before her eyes. Fire, blood red skies, blood, bodies strewn across the ground, bodies of her friends, a passageway, an alter, and her father. She could make out the bodies in the flashes. 'Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka… Kakashi…' She saw their horrible demise as the flashes continued. "No…" She muttered. "NO!" She screamed and batted away Kabuto's hand. She clutched her arms, the symbols still glowing. She shuddered.

"I think we've done our work here, Kabuto." Orochimaru stated, before jumping into the trees he glanced over his shoulder, "Oh and… we'll send when the time comes." They jumped into the forest. The symbols faded and Rai stopped shuddering. She glared at them as they leapt. "Damn you!" She stated and forced herself to stand and leapt after them.  
Kabuto looked back, "Persistent isn't she?" He asked. He then threw several kunai.

"Damn you, Orochimaru!" She shouted. Orochimaru simply turned and spat a vile acid at her. Rai went to block her face, too late. It had hit her and she missed the tree's branch by less than a meter. She was falling and was suddenly caught, she felt air and a warm body, then it gently set her on the ground at the base of a tree, or so she thought. She felt the rough bark of a tree on her back. All the while clawing and scratching at her eyes, they burned. She gritted her teeth and sucked in air constantly.

"Are you alright?" A male voice asked. Rai stopped clawing out her eyes for a minute and sniffed the air. The scent was from a man… Jonin… Raiden?

"Raiden?" She asked. She suddenly felt something cold and wet lay across her forehead and eyes. It burned! Rai sucked in air and pushed it and the hand holding it away.

"She's a strong one," came another male voice, this one was slightly deeper and had the scent of something burning.

"Asuma?" Rai questioned. Rai felt a gentle hand lay on her head and slightly tilt it back.

"It's Orochimaru's doing…" A female voice came, very close too. Rai felt the cold wet thing again and she batted it away but it kept coming back.

"Stop! That hurts!" Rai yelled, fed up.

"We need to take her to Lady Tsunade to-" Kurenai's voice stated.

"No! Not Tsunade!" Rai's voice growled. "Shizune… not Tsunade." Rai felt someone tug at her arm to stand and she did. She felt someone drape her arms over someone's shoulders and place them on her back. "Asuma?" She asked as the cigarette scent hit her nose.

"You alright, Rai?" Asuma asked. "Hold on tight."

"Hold on a minute." Kurenai's voice came, some rustling of cloth, then ripping was heard. "This may sting a bit." Rai felt some cloth go on her eyes, it stung but then it went away into a cool sensation. "This'll temporarily stop the burning until we get back to the village." Kurenai stated.

"Thank you," Rai muttered. Rai was quiet the whole trip home, but almost when they reached the training fields, she stated something. "Asuma?"

"Hm?" He glanced at her.

"Thank you… for everything…"

"No need to thank me, it's what friends do." Rai made a little whimper of shock.

"You can put me down here." She felt Asuma slow and land. Rai's legs were released and she stood then sat on the ground viciously going at her eyes after ripping off the cloth.

"Stop that!" Asuma stated, grabbing her wrists, "That'll get infected."

"But, it burns!" was Rai's response.

"I know it does," Asuma stated sternly. "Kurenai!"

"I'm on it!" Her voice rang and footsteps grew further and further away. Asuma and Raiden had to wrestle Rai to keep her calm and from touching her burning face and eyes. Several pairs of footsteps approached. The scent of ointment and medicine drifted into her nose.

"Where's Rai?" Shizune's voice called out.

"That's Rai…" Raiden stated out of breath. Rai heard a tentative step and Asuma let her go. She felt a warm hand place itself on her head and tilt it upwards. Rai's eyes kept flinching and the tissue raw and sore, bloody and broken.

"It's acidic venom," Shizune stated quietly. Rai heard rustling then felt something drip onto her eyelids; it burned a bit, but then became cool and soothing. "Can you open your eyes at all?" Shizune asked.

"It burns," Rai stated when she tried to open them.

"Just hold on, now," Shizune stated. Rai stopped fussing and relaxed against the tree with a sigh. Shizune gently lifted one of Rai's eyelids, only a bit. What she saw made her grit her teeth. Rai's eye was red and bloody and, to what Shizune could tell, very cloudy around her cornea and pupil. Shizune sighed and stood up. "Well, you're one damn lucky girl, Rai." Shizune pulled something out of her pocket. "Regular humans would lose their eye sight, and most likely their eyes as well. But since you're a demon, you can repair those damaged cells."

"Half," Rai corrected Shizune.

"Hmm?" Shizune stopped what she was doing and looked at her confused.

"I'm only half demon." Rai stated. Shizune mouthed and 'oh' and continued what she was doing. Rai felt something drop onto her face, she flinched slightly but then relaxed. The burning subsided and the liquid felt nice and cool.

"I don't know how long it will take you to heal. But my guess… maybe a week or so…" Shizune's voice stated. She reached into her pocked again and pulled out a little vile. She opened it, dabbed a little cream on her finger and started rubbing the ointment into Rai's cuts. Rai flinched. "This is a very strong ointment that'll neutralize any acid and make the wounds less sore, so they will heal quicker." Shizune pulled back to reveal her handy work. As she did, Rai's skin slowly started to mend itself, healing over the wounds, leaving nothing. Shizune watched in amazement. "Well, your skin healed itself but I don't know about your eyes."

"You're probably right," Rai stated, "about my eyes, I mean." Rai inclined her head slightly as if she was looking at Shizune. "It'll probably take a week or so." Rai stood up.

"Well, just think about it," Asuma stated. "You could use the time to hone your skills without your eyes."


	43. Fighting Blind

Next day, Rai was supposed to fight the genin.

"Oi, Rai-sensei! You're late!" Naruto shouted.

"Sorry guys," was her response, "I lost track of time." She came out of the shadows of the forest with a white piece of cloth covering her eyes as a blind fold and her hair in a high ponytail and no konoha. Naruto came running up and stuck his face very close to hers. Rai leaned back slightly, "What do you want, Naruto?"

"What's with the blindfold?" Naruto asked. He was about to poke it when Rai grabbed his hand and flipped him onto his back.

"Don't, touch, the face…" Rai stated sternly. Rai turned to the other two. "You guys ready?"

"Rai-sama, I'm not going to fight you." Sakura stated shaking her head.

"Why not?" Rai cocked her head slightly.

"Well, you're… um…" Sakura tried to put this nicely.

"Blind?" Rai finished for her. She chuckled a bit. "Not quiet. But, think of this as a training exercise for me." Naruto flipped over on his stomach. Rai knelt down next to him, "You guys should come at me with the intention to kill. Got that, Naruto?"

"Got it…" He wheezed out. Rai stood back up, for ten seconds she just stood there, and then turned to face Sakura and Sasuke, sliding her feet into a fighting stance. She took in several breaths, listening to her surroundings. She focused on the distance and depth. To her, it was mostly black with white outlines, nothing in detail, just basic figures.

'Alright, two in front, one behind.' Rai smiled to herself. 'This is going to be easy…' "Alright! Prepare yourselves! And…" Everybody tensed, Sakura and Sasuke ready to bolt and Naruto getting himself up. "FIGHT!" They fled. Rai listened to the footsteps and breathing as they took off. Then everything went quiet. Rai could hear faint ragged heartbeats from the genin. Rai sniffed the air, 'Sakura and Naruto, you guys need to learn to stay down wind of your enemy. Now Sasuke, you have the right idea.' She waited for several minutes before she started to move. She nonchalantly walked into the woods, following the two genins' scents. Rai walked until she was just slightly up wind of them. She stopped and sniffed the air. 'One's to my left, the other to my right… but where?' She asked herself. A little sparrow landed on a nearby tree branch and sang. Naruto and Sakura froze, holding their breath. Rai's head was facing the bird as if she was looking at it. It then flew off. Rai's head followed it. She then started to walk away. Naruto and Sakura sighed. Suddenly a kunai landed above or in front of their head. "You guys think you tricked me? That bird gave away your positions." Rai's voice called out. They both were stunned. "And you should expect that your enemy has exceptionally good smell… that you should have already known…" Rai stated. "So stay down wind. That's strike one for both of you. Two more and you're out…" Rai leapt away. Rai had a mind to track down where she last heard Sasuke's footsteps then go from there by scent once far enough, which she did. She walked with a purpose, but tread the ground softly. When she tracked his scent, she wound up in a small clearing. She took a step forward and heard a ragged breathing cease. He knew she was here, but where was he?

She cautiously stepped forward and another and another. Her foot caught a wire and it snapped. She gasped and heard a high pitched sound of something coming towards her, she jumped out of the way. She skidded slightly on all fours and heard rustling of leaves and fabric. "Hah!" Sasuke shouted jumping from the air and striking down with a kunai. Rai dodged out of the way and heard Sasuke land heavily. She skidded behind him.

"You know, you should be more quiet when you attack." She stated behind him. Sasuke swung his right arm behind him, with the kunai trying to stab her. Rai jumped into the air. Sasuke followed her. Sasuke threw a kick, Rai blocked it with her right arm. He threw several punches, Rai pushed them away, spreading his arms and she grabbed onto his wrists. She leaned in close to his ear and muttered, "This is where Kakashi always gets caught." She threw a snap kick right at his chest, sending him flying, making sure she let go of his wrists. He hit the ground in a cloud of dust. As the dust cleared and he grunted he looked up and saw Rai coming towards him. He jumped out of the way, Rai collided with the ground in a cloud of dust and created a crater.

'How do I defeat her?' He asked himself. 'She's too strong and I need to watch out for her kicks.' Sasuke placed a hand on his throbbing chest. His eyes widened as he remembered something Kakashi told him about fighting Rai.

"_When fighting Rai, watch out for her legs. She uses them a lot. Get in close and jam her legs so she can't use them. Use your hands, she has a hard time with close range."_

Sasuke smirked, "I got you now."


	44. I Hear Voices

Rai pulled her foot out of the crater with a grunt then turned her head to where she heard Sasuke. She then leapt up to the edge of the crater. When she landed she felt a change in Sasuke's presence. Sasuke smirked at her. He ran towards her and threw several kicks and punches, each one being jammed, blocked, or countered. It suddenly felt as if time had slowed down when Rai threw a left hook. Sasuke ducked under and slid behind her.

"Never let the enemy get behind you." He repeated, mocking her. Rai was stunned. Sasuke saw his chance; he did a left knife hand strike to her back. Rai turned to block it, but her arm wasn't quick enough to block it but her elbow came in contact with his upper arm. Time seemed to resume itself as pain ran through Sasuke's left arm. He grunted as Rai leapt away from him. Rai landed, making sure to keep a good distance between them. Sasuke held his numb arm, breathing ragged.

Rai smiled, 'That worked out better than I thought.' Her mind praised her. "Pressure point," she stated to Sasuke. He glared at her. Rai stood up from her crouch. "It's a way to immobilize and hut your enemy without killing them." Sasuke grunted as he tried to regain the feeling back in his arm. "I wasn't intending it to be that bad of a blow, but you coming in and me making contact to the point with my elbow. You're lucky you didn't break it." Rai stated truthfully. She stood up and flexed her left elbow. "It should just be numb… you'll get the feeling back in roughly several minutes." She stated simply. Sasuke unexpectedly lunged at her and went for her head with a right hook. Time seemed to slow again. Rai sensed this and ducked. Sasuke's eyes went wide. Rai took her index and middle finger and placed them at the base of his neck, between the v of the collarbone, stopping him. Sasuke felt a very uncomfortable pressure on his throat; he looked down with his eyes. Rai smiled, "One of many areas that can kill you with enough force and accuracy. Several others are the temple, below the ear, between the ribs, under the ribs, the kidney, the abdomen, and many more. All areas a hand can hit to kill. But, if I had a knife, my choices increase," She taunted, pulling out a kunai, "through the eye, under the jaw and up, the neck, your heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, liver, or kidneys, and the major arteries and veins in your legs and arms." Rai taunted and pointed to each one with the kunai as she said them. After she was done taunting him, she placed the kunai back with the others. "But for now, this is strike one," She then pulled her hand away from Sasuke's throat, stood up and walked away. Sasuke stumbled back, clutching his throat and coughing. He rubbed it, after his coughing fit, and glared in the direction Rai had slowly retreated in.

Naruto was easy to find, yet again. He didn't seem to listen to anything she had to say. Strike two. Rai had a harder time finding Sakura than before, but in the end strike two. Rai, again, was able to easily track down Naruto. He seemed to have fallen into a tree snare, which she had set. She shook her head in disappointment and sighed. "Naruto… You have the thickest skull of anyone I have met."

"I know, I know…" Naruto stated, hanging there by his foot, his arms crossed.

"And I hope you know that this means you'd be the first one dead and/or the first one to get caught."Rai explained to him.

Naruto sighed in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah. Now can you get me down from here?" He asked enraged, flailing his arms.

"Tuck your head." Rai stated. She took out a kunai.

"Wha?" Naruto asked. Rai hit the wire with the butt of the kunai. "Yah! Oof!" Naruto fell on his head. He groaned.

"And your listening skills are selective," She stated as she put the kunai away. Naruto rolled up on his butt and rubbed his head. Rai came around and dragged him by the collar to the field. Once there Rai let go of his collar. "Now, sit… stay… If I catch you in the forest there are going to be severe consequences." Rai jumped and disappeared. Rai found Sasuke, a very difficult strike two. 'He learns fast,' was her thought. She then turned her attention to Sakura, whom she hadn't sensed in a while. She found she was near Sasuke, 'Maybe they're pairing up?' She asked herself. As she suspected, Sakura and Sasuke did pair up. She came to another small clearing. She skidded to a halt, her hair started to bristle on the back of her neck. They had gone further than she'd anticipated. Sakura and Sasuke were standing side by side, one in fighting stance, the other just standing.

"Split up!" Sasuke's voice rang after Rai had stopped. They both scattered, one to Rai's left and the other to the right.

'So, they're circling me, eh?' Rai thought. Sakura lunged at her and threw a punch and several kicks that were easily dodged or blocked, forcing Rai back. Sasuke jumped and prepared for a fireball jutsu. Sakura did a back flip to get out of the was as Sasuke formed the last hand sign and blew. Rai's head glanced up and over her left shoulder, just enough to hear Sasuke form the last hand sign.

Tiger, "Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke blew. Rai placed her arms up in front of her face as if to block the fireball. She took it dead on. Sasuke smirked and landed on a nearby tree.

"Well, that's the end of that." He stated to Sakura. Suddenly, the center began to spin and created a dome, before disappearing and revealing Rai, smirking. Her stance resembled that of Neji's Rotation technique, once he was done spinning.

"Did you honestly think that little candle trick could stop me?" She stood up straight and raised her hand to her mouth. She held her index finger and thumb together as if she had something in it and blew it, letting the thing go. Not even a second after she blew the invisible object out of her hand did the flames suddenly dispel. She lunged at a stunned Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke shook his head, snapping out of his stunned state, turned and bolted into the woods along with Sakura. Rai threw a kunai where Sasuke was, when she landed, she just grabbed it as she passed and followed them. Sasuke lead the way to a denser part of the woods and Rai's hair on the back of her neck was still bristling. Rai had followed them to a point next to a large oak where she heard someone calling her name.

_Rai…_

She stopped at the base of the oak and jerked her head around, smelling and listening.

_Rai…_

"What!" Rai called out. "What do you want? Who are you?"

_Rai…_

It seemed to be a whisper. She couldn't distinguish the voice. Rai vigorously searched, listening and smelling for someone or something that was calling her name. "Naruto… if that's you, it's not funny!" she stated sternly.

_Rai…_

It seemed to be getting closer. Suddenly, the voice began to softly chant something. Rai strained to hear it.

_Fukai wa, waru no hi ga raseimaremashita. Fukai wa kare no ponurudena kerebanaranai. kare no shu cho ni ku ru, kare wa wo oya, settei inochi no sobete no mono koto no shu wari ni ku ru._

Rai's eyebrows shot up, "No." She muttered. She felt her body flush with heat and the symbols began to glow and dance across her skin.

_Yes…_ A low rough voice teased.

Rai clasped her hands over her ears and shook her head. "This can't be happening."

_But it is…_ The voice teased her.

"You aren't real…" She talked to herself as she fell to her knees.

_You know what you must do…_

Rai fisted her hands in her hair by her ears. She was talking and muttering to herself, again. The symbols on her skin began to fade.

"_Rai-sama?" _She heard her name being called in the distance.

"_Rai-sama?" _It came closer.

"Rai-sama?" A hand fell on her shoulder. Rai gasped and jumped to her feet, leaning against the tree, and, as if looking at the girl and boy with shock, breathed heavily.

"Rai-sama are you alright?" Sakura asked.

Rai shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts. She regained her breath, "Yes, Sakura, I'm fine."

"But you were-" Sakura stated.

"I'm fine…" She snapped at them. She regained her composure and in a calm by stern voice said, "You're dismissed. Get Naruto on your way back to the village and start packing for the assignment in a couple of days." Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other and shrugged. They turned and headed back towards the village. Rai went to follow them, but stopped and turned her head up and to her left as if looking at the treetops. She turned her head forward and left.


	45. He's Back

The assignment was simple, get rid of several thugs and gangs terrorizing local towns. Rai's condition had improved to the point where she didn't need the blindfold any more. She could see, but her vision was still on the blurry side, not everything was as clear as it was. Her brown eyes held their normal healthy glow to them, but upon close inspection would you notice a slight haze in her pupils. As they were chasing three fleeing brutes, Rai began to slowly drop to the back of the group. Kakashi noted, but tried to focus on the task.

_Fukai wa…_

Rai's eyes went wide and she stopped her running pursuit. She stood there, unmoving, "No."

_Yes… _It teased.

Rai glared at the ground, gritting her teeth and raising her lip.

_What's the matter Rai? Scared of your own father? _It teased and laughed.

"You're not my father, you were never my father," She muttered harshly. She shut her eyes tight and clenched her hands into fists at her side.

_Stop thinking up silly lies, you know they're not true…_ He teased.

Rai opened her hands, clamped them down tight over her ears, and shook her head. "You aren't here… You're not real…"

_But I am… And this is what you must do…_

Rai stopped shaking her head. Her black vision burst into an array of images of an alter, of demons, and blood.

_You were born to create a world that I rule. This is the world you're destined to create._

Blood, charred land, ashes, dead trees, red skies, and buildings reduced to rubble flashed across her mind's eye. "No," Rai's eyes were squeezed shut tightly. She shook her head slightly. Rivers running dry and turning into lava pits or bottomless abysses, animals dying, demons transforming and killing rolled across her vision. "This isn't real!" She saw people… People fighting… People dying… Right before her eyes, "No!" She let out a choked sob. Her friends… dead… lying before her. She couldn't take it anymore. "Get, out, of, my head!" She yelled to the sky, and then collapsed to her knees, huddled over. She began to mutter to herself as tears ran down her face and the images replayed in her mind. "You're not real… you're not here." Trying to comfort herself, "You're just a figment of my mind… just a figment… an illusion… nothing more…" She wrapped her arms around herself.

"Rai?" Images began to dance and taunt her in her mind.

_Rai…_

Her friends…

_You know what you must do…_

"Rai?" Something grabbed her by her upper arms. This sent her into a panic. Rai had her eyes closed tightly and began to push against the thing that held her captive, visions still flashing before her eyes.

"No," Rai spoke.

"Rai," the voice spoke, "Rai!" Rai struggled and now her wrists were grabbed and held tightly.

"Let me go!" She struggled.

"Rai!" The voice became clear and stern. She stopped and opened her eyes and looked up at her captor. Her vision was blurry, but she caught a whiff of a scent that she recognized so well.

Rai's breathing was ragged, "Kakashi?" She questioned. His hands loosened around her wrists.

"It's alright. It's me. Just calm down, everything will be alright." He assured her as he placed a hand on her back.

"No," Rai stated, shaking her head and turning to look at the ground. "Everything is not going to be alright." Kakashi looked at her confused. Rai looked to her left at Kakashi as tears began to well up in her eyes. "It's him, Kakashi… He's back." Kakashi's eye widened in disbelief.


	46. So, It Begins

Rai was ordered to stay in the cave with the Okami. She was always under their strict supervision and was only able to go a small distance from the cave with them before they forced her back towards home. Rai had gone out to a nearby stream to get a drink of water and wash her face, leaving her headband and gloves back in the cave. Tsume, Hachi, and Miroku accompanied her. Tsume slept lazily on top of a warm, sunbathed rock, Hachi lay at the base and Miroku lay beside Rai, who knelt at the edge of the stream. Rai dipped her gloveless hands in the water, cupped them, brought them up to her face, and splashed it. Droplets flew, several landed on Miroku and he jumped up from his laying position and yelped slightly. "Oh, don't be such a big baby," Rai stated and splashed her face again. Rai shook her head then looked around.

"What's the matter?" Tsume asked atop the rock. His eyes were closed but he lazily opened them.

"Listen," Rai stated, staring off into the trees. All three wolves perked their heads up and twisted their ears and heads.

"I don't hear anything," Hachi drawled out, slightly shaking his head with each new word.

"That's my point," Rai pointed out. Tsume jumped down next to Hachi from his perch on the rock. "Where are all the animals, the birds, the squirrels, the mice? Where are they?" Rai asked standing up.

"Maybe Miroku scared them away when he yelped." Hachi teased his older brother. He stood up and smirked at Miroku, who returned his smirk with a growl. Suddenly, startled birds flew out of the treetops and flew off quickly somewhere else. The four heads watched the birds scatter then snapped to the sound of something quickly running through the forest towards them.

"We need to get out of here," Rai stated as she began to back up, "Now!" As the four turned to run, a giant centipede crashed through the trees on the other side of the stream. The giant bug's reddish black legs were about two meters long and its black head held massive red mandibles and was about 1 ¼ by 1 ½ meters followed by black 1 by 1 meter sections of body plates. The trees fell and the group scattered, Rai and Tsume jumping one way, while Hachi and Miroku jumped the other, dodging the large foliage. The centipede reared up higher, twitching its long red antenna. It turned to Rai and Tsume. Rai glared at it. Tsume growled and let out a nasty snarl. Rai had a feeling that it locked on to her. It let out a high-pitched screech before lunging at them. Tsume lunged at it, but the bug wasn't even fazed by the wolf and bulldozed right through the wolf's attack, knocking him away. It kept going, and Rai lunged up to meet it, kunai in hand. Rai jumped over it, landing on the back. She went to stab the large plate but was thrashed off after the hard exoskeleton broke the steel kunai. 'What!' Rai thought as she fell. She threw several bombs at it before she landed. The creature screeched. Hachi, Miroku, and Tsume were attacking the bug's legs, which seemed to be the only thing that was penetrable. It didn't help much, there were too many, they could not immobilize it. Rai tried everything to crack the exoskeleton. Nothing seemed to work until she missed with one stab and went between the joints of body armor and the creature thrashed violently in pain as it let out a screech. Rai jumped off and collected herself before she went to attack the joints.

Miroku had gotten fed up with the legs and went straight for the centipede's head. The centipede turned and grabbed the lunging wolf's right forearm and bit it between its large jaws. It turned its head and flung him, tearing off his leg. Miroku let out a painful yelp. "Miroku!" Rai yelled as she saw this. Now, she was ticked. She pulled out multiple shuriken and a kunai all attached to a sharp metal wire. She flung the shuriken and they went flying around the centipede in circles. The metal wire encircled the bug and ensnared it in a tight web. Rai gave a forceful yank on the thrashing centipede as she expected, the softest part was cut and the head and several sections near it came off. It fell to the ground with a thud. Rai bolted up from her crouch to Miroku, "Roku!"

"Eh… I'll be fine… ugh!" Miroku assured her through the pain. His right leg was completely gone. Nothing remained but a bloody hole where it once was. The bloody end of the scapula where the humerus would form the shoulder joint was bloody and noticeable. Rai unwrapped her leg bandage from under her kunai pouch on her leg and tore the bottom half of her shirt. "Rai… your clothes…" Miroku rasped.

"I don't care about them," Rai stated, wrapping the cloth around him to stop the bleeding. "They can be replaced." Miroku gave a small smile. Rai was patched with Miroku's blood, but she didn't care, she wasn't going to lose her brother. Once done, she picked him up, with some difficulty, and took off to the cave.

While Rai was confined to the cave, she took care of her brother. Though he complained he didn't need help, he always silently asked her to help him. Miroku wasn't one to ask for help; he wants to seem strong, not weak. Rai had to crush dry herbs and mix liquids. She would apply several ointments to help it heal. Within a couple of days, the leg began to reappear and slowly form from a stub into a powerful leg. Even though it was fully grown, Miroku couldn't use it until all the muscles and nerves were rebuilt, so he still hobbled around with a sling on his arm, connecting it to his body. One day, Miroku got agitated with the sling and started to bite at it.

"Miroku, No!" Rai stated as if she was scolding a puppy. She glared at him, slightly. Miroku flattened his ears and looked sadly up at her with his nose pointed down. "Here," Rai stated, kneeling down to his laying form. "Let me take it off." She untied the knot at the top and began to unwrap it. The moment of truth, once the bandages came off, Miroku rose with ease, then inspected his leg, lifting and placing it, moving it around. He tried to walk. He had a bit of a limp, but that would fade as he walked more. Rai just smiled at her brother as he turned his head to face her in a silent thank you.


	47. A Good Bad Thing

Over the past week, the Okamis had been attacked by countless demons. Several ninja squads had been attacked and some even killed. Tsunade slammed the desk with her fists. "Damn it!" As she read the reports, "I knew those wolves would cause trouble." She muttered to herself. "Shizune!" She yelled.

"Yes, m'lady!" Shizune stated, straightening up.

"Get all the top ANBU Black Ops together," Tsunade shouted. "They have a special assignment."

"Yes, Ma'am," Shizune turned and ran out the door.

"And get that good for nothing lazy Kakashi with them!" Tsunade called after her. Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair.

Kakashi was minding his own business, reading his book as usual and walking down the street. "Kakashi!" He heard his name and turned to look over his right shoulder. It was Shizune running towards him, "You're being summoned."

Kakashi sat confused as to why there were all these ANBU around him and he was the only Jonin. "As you may have heard," Tsunade projected her voice, "there has been random attacks by demons. Your task is simple." Tsunade smirked, "Exterminate them, ALL of them."

Kakashi held his breath for a bit, 'Not good!' He thought.

"Dismissed!" They all disappeared.

'Rai… I hope you and the clan are safe.' Kakashi thought as they were jumping through the trees.

Rai was lounging about the cave, reading. Her nose suddenly picked up a metallic like scent she knew all too well. Her ears picked up the sounds of someone running and panting. It sounded female and it was heading towards the cave entrance. Rai closed her book, set it down to her left, and stood up, not taking her eyes off the cave entrance. A girl, clutching her left arm and stomach, came running out from Rai's right view of the cave and collapsed with exhaustion. Without thinking, Rai bolted out and knelt down to inspect the child. She heard something approaching. She gingerly picked up the child and ran into the cave. She laid her down and protectively huddled over her, her palms pressed against the cave wall, she looked over her left shoulder, and held her breath. Several crows flew by, cawing and a bit of red on their faces where their eyes should have been. Then a brown blurb flew by, screeching like a hawk. A massive reddish tan panther demon sauntered out on its hind legs, scanning side-to-side and stopped dead center in the entrance. 'Okami protect us,' Rai thought. The massive cat demon was looking directly at her back, she didn't know if he was able to see her or not. Suddenly, a screech was heard and the brown blur was back, only it hovered beside the beast, flapping its wings. It was a harpy with tan human skin and features, tinted with a slight hue of green, but brown feathered wings and legs, with talons, tail and armor.

"The little brat isn't here," Her airy voice stated. "Let's get going." She stated and bolted upwards. The panther demon just stood there and sniffed the air. Rai tensed. "What is it now?" The harpy asked, agitated coming back down to head height.

"I, smell, dog…" The gruff voice purred in a thick accent. The 'G' on his word 'dog' sounded more like a 'LK' rather than a 'G'. So it sounded like he said 'Dolk' with a heavy 'K'. Rai's hair stood up.

"You're hallucinating things. There's nothing there but rock." The harpy replied. "Now, let's get going and find that little morsel and get back before the master skins our hides for letting her escape." She took off. The panther wasn't that convinced but slowly turned and followed the harpy.

Rai let out a sigh after a tense minute went by. She began to tend to the girl, dressing her wounds. The wolves came in and lay down, interested in the young girl. They hadn't seen one so close since Rai was a youngster. The young girl slowly became conscious. 'It's so warm.' She thought. She slowly opened her eyes to see a giant wolf on top of her. She screamed, pushing the large fluff ball off her and sitting up and moving back until her back touched the cave wall. Kiori yelped slightly in surprise when the girl pushed her off. The girl looked around frantically at the wolves curiously looking at her, breathing heavy. She winced and grasped her left arm and side, finding them nicely bandaged up. She looked at the work a little stunned. "It's alright," A voice came. "They won't hurt you." The girl's head snapped up to look at Rai, who suddenly appeared before her. She let out a little yelp. "How's your arm?" Rai asked as the girl curled up into a little ball, trying to protect herself. Rai gingerly pried the wounded arm away from the girl. The bandages started to show signs of red. "It opened up again," Rai tsked and began to unwrap it. The girl slowly uncurled herself, watching Rai. Rai bit her thumb and wiped her blood over the girl's wound. The girl watched in amazement as it healed. She lifted it up to her eye level to inspect it. "See, good as new." Rai stated taking the bandages and placing them beside her. Tsude came up, grabbed the bandages in his mouth, and walked to the back of the cave. The girl squeaked when she saw Tsude. "What?" Rai asked. Rai looked at the girl then at Tsude. "What's your name?" Rai asked. The girl was still a little timid and her voice shook.

"Mizuru…"

"Mizuru, huh?" Rai asked, smiling. "How old are you and where do you live?"

"I'm ten and my family lives in a nearby village." Her voice stuttered and shook as she answered and eyed the wolves. Every movement they made caused her to jumped slightly and look at them warily.

Rai noticed this, "There's no reason to be scared."

"But they're demons!" The girl stated. "My father says demons are evil and cruel and they kill everything!" Mizuru exaggerated with her arms.

"Nah," Rai blew off. Kiori came over and lay beside Rai. Rai rubbed Kiori's belly as she panted happily. "They're just big fluff balls." Rai stated. Mizuru gained enough courage to reach out and try to pet Kiori. Kiori cocked her head slightly as she saw Mizuru's hand approach. She reached her nose out and sniffed it. Mizuru flinched but then placed her hand on the wolf's head.

"So soft," She muttered. Kiori smiled and panted happily.

"Mother, we'll take her home." Rai stated standing up. Mizuru looked to where a large wolf nodded its head. Tsume stood up as well, walking forward. "This is Tsume." Rai told the girl. Mizuru stood up and hid behind Rai. "He may be intimidating, but he's a sweet heart." Rai said as she gently lifted the girl and placed her on the wolf's back. "Hold on, but not too tight." Mizuru leaned forward and grabbed Tsume's scruff. They took off. Kyoko was a small rural farming village, north east of Konoha. They entered the village at a walk. It was quiet. Rai and Tsume both picked up the scent of demons, they glanced at each other quickly. The majority of the residents were out in the fields, but several stayed home to watch over the village kids. As they went further in, Rai could tell they tried to repair some recent damages to the houses.

"My house is down there," Mizuru said, pointing her left hand forward. As they approached, Mizuru began to call out, "Momma! Momma!" They stopped in front of a house, the bamboo curtain moved aside.

"Mizuru?" A woman's voice called out and her figure appeared. Once she saw her daughter, "Mizuru!" She ran out of the house to her. Mizuru slid off Tsume and ran to her mother. "Oh, Mizuru. I thought I lost you to those demons." Mizuru's mother stated.

"I missed you, Momma." Mizuru stated.

"Thank you for returning her home." Mizuru's mother stated looking at Rai and Tsume.

"Momma, Momma! See! She's nice! She's not mean! She saved me from the demons!" Mizuru's voice was full of excitement. "But she's a demon, Momma! Not all demons are bad!"

Her mother's eyes widened, "Is this true?"

"Sort of," Rai stated, looking off to the side and rubbing the back of her head. "I'm not completely demon. I'm only half." Rai muttered in shame and let her hand hang from her neck as she kicked a pebble on the ground.

"I don't care what you are; you went out of your way to bring her home. Thank you." Mizuru's mother stood up and bowed.

"You're welcome," Rai stated with a small smile and a breeze began to blow.


	48. Fight Till The Death

"Gah!" One male ANBU was hit.

"Where are all these demons coming from?" Another asked blocking a blow from a boar demon holding a staff. Demons were everywhere, literally crawling out of the woodwork as they say.

"Give ussss the girl…" One two-headed snake demon hissed and lunged, mouths open wide and fangs out. One boar demon grabbed Kakashi by the front of his vest and pressed him against a tree.

"Where is she?" His voice rumbled and he snorted out his nose in frustration. Kakashi couldn't respond because he couldn't breathe. He clawed at the massive hand, then took out a kunai and stabbed him. The boar squealed and let go. Kakashi landed and sprung forward and delivered a sidekick to the demon's chest. A giant snake came and quickly wound itself around Kakashi. He used substitution to get himself out of that. A harpy grabbed him by the back of his flak jacket. Kakashi stuck a kunai in the harpy's leg, which let him go. He fell into a spider's web, whipped out his last kunai and began to cut away at the sticky webbing. Once he broke free, a giant black widow lunged at him. Kakashi dodged the fangs, stuck the kunai in its back, and dragged it along the body as he jumped over it. The spider's body fell as Kakashi landed. A Death Spirit lunged at Kakashi, holding him by the throat and pressed him up against a tree. Kakashi grasped at its arm. The Death Spirit had a human skull covering most of his face, his exposed skin was black, he wore a black robe, his hands were similar to humans but black, and had bones embedded deep into his skin.

"Where is it?" The Death Spirit had a human voice. It raised its hand and embers engulfed it. "Where is she?" He asked in a deadly tone. Kakashi saw a faint symbol appear in the flames. His eye went wide.

'No!' He kicked his leg and sent the Death Spirit flying. He lunged after the Death Spirit, "You're not going to take her!"

Attacks have been getting more frequent and every day she hears and smells a fight outside. Rai placed her hands over her ears and shook her head. A rumble was heard in the distance as thick black clouds hung over head. Rai had a horrible vision of her fellow comrades in their blood, slaughtered. Lightning struck as she gasped.

_Come now, Rai… _The voice mocked. _You're doing more harm than good…_

"As long as I stay away from you, everyone will be safe." Rai stated. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on her folded arms on top of her knees.

The voice chuckled and lightning struck, _Don't think up such nonsence. Those demons won't stop attacking until I call them off. And your friends will keep fighting for you… Till death…_ Lighting struck again. Rai sat there, looking up slightly, wide eyed at her mistake. She stood up. She was about to walk out of the cave when she felt something brush up against her.

"Okami, I'm sorry," She muttered to the spirit, whom she had just felt. She walked out of the cave. It began to rain.

The battlefield was a sloppy wet mess now that it started to empty buckets of water in less than a second. "There are too many of them!" Gai stated as his back bumped into Kakashi's. "Where do they keep coming from?" Gai lunged at a giant insect and kicked it.

"I don't know." Kakashi stated. He struck one of the flying insects that came too close to him. Kakashi quickly began to scan with his Sharingan eye. He saw two figures on a nearby cliff. "Orochimaru…" He muttered then took off in their direction.

"Kakashi!" Asuma shouted and punched a Walking Dead skeleton. "Wait up!" They all followed him. Kakashi skidded to a halt at the base of a cliff where Kabuto and Orochimaru stood, overlooking the land. Orochimaru sneered. Kakashi glared up at them.

"I'll take care of him." Kabuto stated and walked forward to the edge of the cliff and jumped down, skidding on the cliff, to Kakashi's level. Everyone was busy with one thing or another: giants, giant insects, boar demons, Death Spirits, ogres, giant rats, giant snakes, Walking Dead skeletons, hellhounds, fire gargoyles, fire spirits, etc. They all seemed tired and at their wits end. They were getting beaten. Kakashi punched Kabuto back and two burning spirits came out and grabbed him. The Walking Dead surrounded Asuma and Kurenai. A blue giant was choking Gai. The genin and Iruka fended off the baby gargoyles, birds, and smaller demons. Kakashi fought in their grip. "Now," Kabuto stated, holding up his hand glowing blue, "Where is she?" Kakashi kept fighting the blazing spirits' grip. "Tell me where she is or pay for your arrogance." Kabuto demanded. Kakashi shot Kabuto an ice cold death glare. "Alright then," Kabuto sighed. He brought his arm back and thrust it at Kakashi. Lightning struck.

"ENOUGH!" A female voice rang out. Lightning struck again. Suddenly, everyone and everything stopped and looked to where the voice came from. Lightning flashed behind the figure and a rumble ripped through the air. It was Rai. She stood there on a high plateau, overlooking the scene. Her fists balled, her eyes glaring, her stance stiff and threatening. Lightning struck again. She jumped down and landed in a crouch, slowly rising.

"Rai-sama." Sakura stated as Rai walked past her.

"Let… Them… Go…" Rai growled at the demons. The demons released their hold on whoever they had a grip on, backed away, and slightly bowed. Several boar demons got down on their knees. Rai was really pissed. Her eyes flashed dangerously from their normal brown to a crimson red.

"M'Lady," Kabuto bowed as she came closer, arm across his waist. Rai glared at him and he suddenly found himself flying backwards and crashing into the base of the cliff. The genin gasped in fear. Iruka stepped in front of them to protect them in case she decided to turn on them. Rai glared dangerously at Kabuto.

"Now, now Rai." Orochimaru's voice teased. All heads snapped up to him. "We wouldn't want to keep your father waiting." He sneered. "So let's skip the fighting and leave peacefully. You know you cannot win." Rai closed her eyes and looked down. He was right. All the fighting would lead you nowhere.

"Rai-," Kurenai stated. Rai turned around to face them. She lifted her head up and smiled a warm smile, but something was wrong. This wasn't one of her normal smiles. Was she… crying? You couldn't tell because of the rain.

"I'll be alright, really." She assured.

"Rai… You don't have to do this," Kakashi stated walking up to her. Rai looked down and away. Suddenly, an orange blur ran behind Rai, arms spread wide in a guarding posture.

"We're not going to let them take you, Rai-sama!" Naruto stated. Rai turned her head to look at him. She then shook her head.

"It's useless, Naruto." She told him.

"But, Rai-sama," Sakura tried to interject.

"You guys will keep fighting for me… you guys would fight to the death for me… I'm grown up now… I need to fight my own battles." Rai stated.

"We'll find away." Kakashi assured her as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Rai shook her head as she backed away out of his reach. "No, there isn't any other way." She clutched her hands together in front of her chest. "Too many people have already died because of me and I don't want any of you to be next. So, I'm sorry…" Boar demons came between Rai and the group, spears in hand. Soul Skimmers grabbed Naruto by the back of his jacket and picked him up.

"Huh? Hey!" He shouted at them, "Put me down!" The white Soul Skimmers flew him over the boar barrier and placed him down gently with the group.

"Rai, don't do it…" Asuma warned. "Don't do it!"

"I'm sorry," She muttered and turned away walking as the demons followed. The genin ran up to catch her but the boars were in the way and kept them back.

"Rai-sama!" They shouted, "Rai!" She kept walking and disappeared into the shadows of the forest. Suddenly, a white flash of light and a loud boom filled the air. All the demons disappeared in the light flash. Everyone was looking around. The demons, and Rai, had vanished.


	49. Loss Of A Best Friend

"Damn it!" Iruka swore as he punched a tree at face height and scrunched his face in anger. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, fist still on the tree. Asuma had stuck his right hand knife into a tree and used it to support his arm's weight. Kurenai sheltered herself from the rain under the tree near Asuma and her group followed her. Everyone tried to seek some sort of nearby shelter under the trees, everyone except for Kakashi, who stood where he was when Rai left.

"Kakashi, you better get out of the rain, you'll catch a cold," Kurenai stated. All he did was lower his head slightly.

"Don't worry about me," He stated after several minutes of silence.

"Let's head back to the village," Gai stated, shivering slightly. His spandex suit wasn't built for keeping in warmth, especially when it was wet. "We'll get some rest and more recruits." Everyone's head snapped to the sky as it suddenly lit up and a loud sound ripped through the air.

"We need to hurry," Everyone turned to look at Kakashi's soaked back. "We don't have much time." Kakashi stated he tilted his head up a bit to look where Rai had disappeared.

Rai followed the Soul Skimmers as they brushed up against her like friendly cats when they slowly floated by. Demons of every shape and size would peer out from the tree as she walked by. The hair on her neck would bristle to the point where she would almost shudder. Kabuto and Orochimaru walked slightly behind her. "So…" Rai asked in a dark tone, "Why, are you, involved with my father, did he promise you something?" She glanced back with her eyes, "Eternal life, vast knowledge, an unfathomable chakra supply, some type of special power or something along those lines?" Rai slowed her pace slightly and let them pass her.

Orochimaru, now walking vaguely ahead of her, sneered, "Me being able to use my arms again." He chuckled slightly. Rai stopped. Kabuto heard her feet skid to a halt, stopped, and turned around to look at her.

"Tuh…" Rai tsked and rolled her eyes, looking off into the woods to her right, and shaking her head slightly. Orochimaru stopped and turned to face her. "You should know better than to trust a demon." Rai stated, crossing her arms across her chest. "He's just using you to do his dirty work and once he's through with you, he will toss you aside like the piece of garbage you are."

"My dear, you don't know what you are talking about." Orochimaru hissed.

Rai glared, "You really think I don't know my own father?" Her eyes turned into their crimson red. Orochimaru growled and walked back to her. A giant two-headed snake came in between them. It hissed and opened its mouths at him in a threatening posture.

"What are you doing?" He asked it, "Get out of my way!" He motioned with his head to get lost.

"It's sad, isn't it Orochimaru?" Rai asked as she looked at her nails, palm facing her. "Even your own pet won't listen to you. Hmm… pity." She said, brought her hands down to her sides, and began to walk off again. As she walked by him, he glared at her. "Hold him," She told the demons. A giant and Cyclops stood guard at each of his sides and grabbed him roughly by his unusable arms.

"This is impossible!" Orochimaru shouted in protest. Kabuto began to back up and bumped into a harpy with her wings crossed and a giant bat hovering overhead.

He chuckled nervously, "Thanks, but I'll walk." He put his hands up by his chest in defeat and waved them faintly.

"Nothing is impossible, Orochimaru…" Rai stated stopping and looking back. They made their way through the dark woods and reached a cave, the giant boulder at the entrance and the heavy-duty seals that were placed on it, were gone and in pieces about the mouth of the cave. Rai walked confidently into the darkness, though, with all her heart, she didn't want to have anything to do with this, and everyone and everything followed.

The tunnel became dark, but the burning souls and Soul Skimmers illuminated the way. A long, long, long tunnel seemed to go on forever in a straight line as they walked. They seemed to be getting nowhere when suddenly they came to a dead end. Rai walked up to it and placed her hand on the wall, glaring at it, daring it to move. Her eyes turned crimson red and her body enveloped in symbols. A 'chi' symbol lit up on the wall, a rumbling sound stirred beneath their feet as the floor began to collapse in on itself. Rai looked down. A staircase unveiled itself. Rai began to walk down the case, which seemed to go on forever, down, down, down. Down they went. They soon came to a flat tunnel again, this one only about ten meters at the most and very dark. As she walked, a little dot appeared at the end, every step seemed to be getting nowhere. The dot painfully grew slightly bigger. Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking, she went through the end of the tunnel.

The rain had let up and ceased its pour. A large group of ninja ran through the woods. "And you guys brought me along, why?" Tsunade's voice asked harshly.

Sakura turned to look at her over her left shoulder, "You can distract Rai-sama for us. She won't listen to any of us." Tsunade turned her head away and grumbled something.

"Kakashi, how much further," Gai asked.

Kakashi glared ahead, "Not much further." He jumped, as did everyone else. They came to an opening, a very large opening. 'No!' Kakashi thought as he saw the massive opening and the debris scattered about in front of them. Kakashi just sprinted into the cave.

"Kakashi sensei!" Someone yelled causing him to skid to a halt and turn around to look at the group.

"Hold on," Asuma called ahead to him. Several people were out of breath. They complained as they began to regain their breath. Kakashi eagerly waited for them to recuperate. Tenten took in a deep breath and stood up.

"Alright, let's go." She stated. They all took off after Kakashi. They ran through the tunnel. They continued to run.

"Man, how long is this tunnel anyway?" Naruto complained to his comrades.

Kurenai craned her head as they passed a boulder, "Didn't we already pass that boulder?" She asked and turned her head back to the group.

"They all look the same to me," Genma stated.

"Byakugan," Neji activated his special ability to see if they were caught in some type of genjutsu. "No, we are moving. We are not under any jutsu of any sort." Neji assured his worried teammates. Another boulder came and passed.

"I swear that's the same boulder…" Kurenai muttered to the group and glared at it as it went by. They hit a dead end.

"What? A dead end!" Naruto ranted as he skidded to a halt along with everyone else. It was so quiet that you could hear everyone breathing heavily, some swore you could hear other's heartbeats. Kakashi looked down, knelt, and ran his hand over the ground. He then threw his fist into the ground, causing it to collapse in and show the staircase beneath. They all ran and/or jumped down the stairs.

Rai entered a large chamber. The walls a dark red, the walls lit with torches. If you'd look up, you couldn't even see the ceiling it was so high, it was covered by the shadows. The left and right walls had four torches each and three large and narrow arched doorways accented by an orange-brown wood. Giant pillars stood tall and proud holding up the unseen ceiling, standing all on a hard dark concrete floor. At the other end of the room was a raised platform with 15 steps leading up to it, and in its corners burned large flame dishes. The altar was actually a large rectangle with a giant summoning circle in the center and slightly higher up. Rai walked up to the steps and placed her left foot of the first one.

"Rai-sama!" A voice called out. Rai turned and looked over her right shoulder.

"Don't do it!" Sakura's voice shouted out.

"That's not a good idea!" Shikamaru warned. The group came racing in through the small opening from the tunnel into the room. Rai's eyes faded back to their normal brown. Her mouth went slightly ajar.

"Kakashi," She whispered to herself. Demons lunged in front of them, blocking their path. One of the giants was pushing Iruka back with a trident.

He threw out his left hand and shouted, "Rai!"

"Enough!"

The demons let go and quickly backed away.

"Rai-sama!" "Don't do this!" "Please!" The genin pleaded with her. Rai turned around, shook her head, and took a small step backwards, up the stairs. She had her right hand in a fist in front of her chest.

"Rai, you don't have to do this," Kakashi stated as he walked forward towards her. Demons growled at him as he passed. Rai backed up the stairs as he approached her. "We can find another way. Just come back with us." Kakashi placed one foot on the bottom step and slowly stretched out his right hand, silently asking her to take it. He was begging her to come home. Rai shook her head and clasped her hands together in front of her chest. She closed her eyes and took another step backwards, up the stairs.

"No, we can't Kakashi. This day was inevitable since the day I was born, and you know that."

"That's why we placed those seals on you," Kakashi stated as he took another step up the stairs. Rai looked up at him with her brown eyes, closed them, and shook her head again.

"No, the seals were just to stop my demon side from taking over my body and mind, not to prevent this." She tilted her head down in sorrow. Kakashi went to take another step closer. "Don't!" Rai warned, wincing. Kakashi suddenly found himself pushed back off the stairs. He flipped and landed on the floor in a crouch. He felt something push him back further, towards the group, his feet and hand skidding along the ground. "Don't come any closer," Rai stated as she hugged herself. "I'm too dangerous."

"Rai-sama," Sakura sighed in concern and went to take a step forward to comfort her. Rai glanced up at her.

"Don't Sakura," Iruka stepped in front of the girl, blocking her.

"I'm sorry," Rai stated. She turned and walked up the stairs to the top of the platform. Kakashi lunged for her but was blocked by a plethora of demons that appeared in front of them and Rai.

"Rai!" He shouted to her over the barrier of demons. Orochimaru sneered. Rai stopped once she reached the top.

"Rai!" Shizune yelled. A red light presented itself in front of Rai, shining up from the symbols and summoning circle on the floor. She looked up then over her right shoulder and turned around. A warm smile graced her face and tears welled up and streamed down her cheeks.

"You guys were the best friends I could ever ask for." Rai stepped back into the circle, backing up into the middle.

"Grr, Rai-sama!" Naruto shouted. She chanted something. Her skin began to glow with the symbols and her hair and clothing began to flutter up a bit as if there was a slight breeze coming from under her. She brought her thumb to her mouth and bit down, drawing blood. She continued to chant. She stopped and began to form hand signs, calling them each by name. The demons began to back away in fear. Rai knelt on the ground and placed her bleeding hand on the summoning circle and the symbols, her blood quickly spread through the crevices. The light began to glow brighter. She stood up and began to form the hand signs again. Before the last one, she stopped.

"Thank you…" She said, as she smiled to her friends. She closed her eyes and formed the last hand sign.

"Rai-sama!" The group began to run to her, but it was too late. Rai's body was enveloped by a beam of light from the center of the circle increasing outwards and a concussion of air sent everyone flying back. The light was too bright to look at; everyone had to shield his or her eyes from its blinding rays. A large dark figure made its appearance in the light and then disappeared. A heavy presence was felt as if the pressure was increased in the air. Neji braved the light, used his Byakugan, and looked at the light.

"It's… impossible…" He stuttered in shock. Everyone was able to feel this pressure and by now, everyone was pinned to the ground or up against the wall. "It's not even human," Neji stated.

"You're right, it's not," Kakashi replied glancing at Neji.

"What is it?" Ino asked the group. The light slowly dimmed and a large man, with pale skin and long black hair, was clad in a long black cloak with gold-rimmed designed armor on his shoulders. He hung his head, face concealed by his hair.

"At long last," His low voice rumbled. He pulled back his lips, revealing very sharp teeth. He chuckled. That chuckled turned into laughter. He brought his head up and glared at the group before the altar to his left with crimson red eyes.

"Who-who is that?" Tenten asked. She was trying her best not to shake in fear, but she failed, as did most everyone else.

"S-s-s-Sankaku…" Tsunade stuttered, eyes wide.

"Makaigenshu," Asuma whispered in a slight growl.


	50. Makaigenshu

Tsunade, Kakashi, Iruka, Gai, and Asuma all glared at Him from the ground. Iruka, Asuma, Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Gai, and Shizune rose to their feet. As Kiba stood, Akamaru quivered. "That's…" He stuttered.

"Makaigenshu," Iruka stated, glaring at Him. Kakashi tightened his fists.

"My daughter did well," He sneered, standing up straight and examining the humans in front of him. He held up his right hand, palm up and something began to pieces itself together. Quickly, Rai's body appeared above his hand, floating lifelessly. "Your purpose has been fulfilled. Your life has ended its use." He thrust his hand out, diagonally from him and her body went flying.

"Rai!" "Rai-sama!" Some of them shouted. Iruka shouted her name as he bolted over to catch her body. He skidded back on his feet and left knee. He glanced at Rai's body before glaring up at Makaigenshu. 'How dare he talk about Rai like a tool and treat her body like a used rag!' Iruka thought. Makaigenshu laughed. After all, she was human… wasn't she?

"Why do you insist on helping her when she has already left this world? That's nothing but an empty shell, a corpse." Kakashi watched Iruka. Iruka gritted his teeth and held back a growl. Suddenly, Rai's body began to disintegrate from top to bottom, fading into the air. Iruka looked down and gasped, but she had vanished.

"Rai," He whispered. He looked at his hands as if he was still holding her. He balled his fists and shut his eyes, gritting his teeth. Kakashi raised his lip, gnashed his teeth behind his mask, and glared deadly at Makaigenshu. Most of the people were in shock, however, some turned their attention back to Makaigenshu and glared at him. Oh, how Makaigenshu loved this feeling, this feeling of rage, anger, and killing intent. This is what he thrived on and loved. Iruka stood up, fists balled at his sides. Makaigenshu chuckled at Iruka, and then looked over the group, spotting Kakashi.

"Well now, White Fang…" He chuckled. "I see you lived long enough to see my reign of this world you tried to prevent with those futile seals." Kakashi just continued to glare at the demon accusing him as his father.

"Sensei, what is he talking about?" Sasuke asked. Makaigenshu gave a lopsided sharp-toothed smile.

"Hmm… pity... you couldn't protect the daughter of the woman you were sworn to protect." He began to walk down the steps. "Now," He disappeared and, as if in slow motion, appeared in front of Kakashi and grabbed his throat. Time resumed and Kakashi found himself forced back by his throat against the wall. Everyone gasped. Dust kicked up late. "To repay you for that torturous hell you confined me in!" Makaigenshu raised his free hand and stiffened it for a piercing strike. His hand began to glow an eerie green.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The genin gasped. "Kakashi!" Others shouted.

"Man, he's fast…" Gai gulped. Kakashi grabbed the demon's wrist and struggled against his hold. Suddenly, the glow ceased, and Makaigenshu cocked his head to the side slightly and took in several whiffs of air. Kakashi continued to glare at the demon, even though he was struggling.

Makaigenshu sneered, "So," He chuckled a bit as he leaned in slightly. "You're not White Fang, are you?" Kakashi grunted. "You're his little brat." Makaigenshu released his claws from the wall and allowed Kakashi to drop to the floor. Kakashi crumpled in a pile, gasping for air. "And I thought you were supposed to be her body guard." He reached down, grabbed Kakashi by his hair, and forced him to look up into his red eyes. "And you were supposed to save her… pity…" He let go roughly and walked back to the altar, which now held a large throne like chair. As he passed through the group, shivers were sent down everyone's spine, due to the cold chill he emitted. Several grabbed their chests or collapses to their knees due to his immense aura. Orochimaru suddenly walked up next to him.

"I believe there is a debt to be paid." Orochimaru sneered at him out of the corner of his eye. Makaigenshu glanced at him quizzically out of the corner of his left eye. "In return for her presence," Orochimaru dared to step in front of Makaigenshu's path, causing him to make a quick stop. "You're to return my arms to me." Makaigenshu just stared blankly at him. After several seconds of silence, Sankaku burst into a quick humorous laughter. He closed his eyes and laughed towards the never-ending ceiling.

"And what makes you think I will do that?" Makaigenshu asked as he smirked down at Orochimaru, "A demon lord in debt to a pathetic human?" Makaigenshu chuckled through that sentence, stressing 'demon lord', 'debt', and 'human'. He went to take a step forward, but Orochimaru leaned forward, angered by this turn of events.

"Because I was the one who found you in your pathetic existence, I was the one who rescued you from your imprisonment; I was the one who brought your Halfling here, I was the one who-!" Orochimaru barked out at Sankaku.

"SILENCE!" His voice shook the foundation. "YOU… did no such thing!" Makaigenshu was enraged; his hair began to levitate about him, as did his cloak. His eyes began to glow a fiercer red. "You did not find me! Many people found me, most of those who failed to bring me what I needed and died. If you remember, I called out to you when you walked by. You did not find me! You did not release me from my imprisonment! I was released by my spawn's own will! My daughter was the one who came here, after seeing the devastation her friends were about to witness. You did absolutely nothing to release my being from my place of origin!" Makaigenshu growled at Orochimaru and then walked straight past him. Orochimaru stumbled back and glared at him.

"You… worthless…" Orochimaru growled. "You pathetic excuse for a demon, you promised me my arms!" Sankaku began to ascend the stairs to his throne. "Now, you'll pay for betraying me!" Orochimaru opened his mouth a spat out his sword and charged at Sankaku's back. He stopped his ascent, "Die!" Orochimaru shouted as he lunged at his back. In one swift movement, he turned sharply, ripped the sword from Orochimaru's mouth, and thrust his right hand into Orochimaru's chest. He grabbed his heart and ripped if from the body. The Jonin shaded the genin's eyes from the brutal assault. The still beating heart pumped in his right hand and his left hand still held the sharp blade as he watched the last twitches of Orochimaru's body before the steps.

"Just like I said, I owe no one…" Makaigenshu stated and crushed the pumping heart in his right hand, then broke the sword in his left. He turned to the rest of the crowd, "Anyone else care to defy me?" He announced, stressing 'else' and 'me'. Many demons backed down and bowed their heads low. Sankaku scanned the crowd and turned to ascend to his throne again. "Great, another mess to clean up," He mumbled and reached the top as the blood, blade, and body dissolved into thin air. "That's better." He turned perpendicular to the group. The Jonin letting the genin go as the body disappeared. "Your reign of this world has ended!" His voice echoed through the room. "Now…" Kakashi stood up, using the wall as a crutch. "It's my turn to rule." His eyes began to glow brighter. There was a rumble at their feet, a deafening explosion, and everything went black.


End file.
